STORYof 


fa  PPAIPIES 

WILLARD 


This  "   >o'    '     DUE  on  the  last  date  star.*-  eH  below 


JTHERN  BRANCH. 

:TY  OF  CALi'"" 

LIBRARY, 
ANGELES.  CALIF. 


THE 


Story  of  the  Prairies 

OR 

THE  LANDSCAPE  GEOLOGY  OF 
NORTH  DAKOTA 


DANIEL  E.  WILLARD,  A.  M., 

Professor  of  Natural  Sciences,  State  Normal  School, 
Mayville,  North  Dakota. 


READING  CIRCLE   EDITION. 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR  BY 

RAND,  McNALLY  &  COMPANY, 

CHICAGO.        NEW  YORK.        LONDON. 


76025 


Copyright,  1903, 
BY  DANIEL  E.  WILLARD. 


PREFACE. 


A  book  justifies  its  existence  if  it  supplies  a  need  or  assists  in  any  way 
in  solving  the  problem  of  life.  There  is  a  noticeable  lack  of  books  suited 
to  the  general  reader  in  the  branch  of  science  which  deals  with  the  earth 
upon  which  we  live.  Splendid  contributions  to  knowledge  have  been 
made  in  this  line  in  recent  years,  but  many  of  the  best  things  that  have 
been  written  are  practically  inaccessible  to  the  average  reader  both  by 
reason  of  the  technical  character  of  the  language  used  and  by  the  fact  that 

^v    the  material  is  often  contained  in  large  volumes  unhandy  for  general  use. 

^x  That  these  contributions  are  of  great  value  to  the  people  is  indicated 
by  the  large  amounts  which  are  annually  expended  by  the  National 
Government  and  by  the  State  surveys  for  their  compilation  and 
publication. 

To  present  in  untechnical  language  a  scientific  statement  of  a  subject 

JJ|    is  not  an  easy  task.    Whether  the  present  book  accomplishes  this  or  not  an 

^  intelligent  public  will  soon  discover.  The  author  has  had  in  mind,  as 
a  class  to  whom  he  would  make  every  page  readable,  those  who  have 
reached  the  degree  of  maturity  represented  by  the  sixth  and  seventh 
grades  in  the  public  schools.  If  the  book  is  intelligible  to  pupils  rep- 
resented by  these  grades  it  should  be  understood  by  the  average  citizen 
who  is  interested  in  knowing  about  his  own  State.  It  has  seemed  impos- 
sible to  avoid  the  somewhat  technical  character  of  certain  portions,  owing 
to  the  intricate  and  difficult  nature  of  the  subject.  It  may  be  asked 
if  these  passages  might  not  have  been  omitted.  To  do  this  would 
have  marred  the  book  as  a  whole,  and  it  seemed  best  to  carry  out  the 
original  plan,  leaving  to  the  discretion  of  teachers  what  part  should  be 
omitted  in  class  work.  Such  subjects  as  the  causes  of  the  changes  of 
level  of  Lake  Agassiz,  the  distribution  of  the  lakes  of  the  State,  and 
the  chapter  on  "The  Beginnings  of  North  Dakota,"  may  be  omitted 
where  these  topics  are  beyond  the  mental  grasp  of  the  pupi1s.  But 
to  have  omitted  them  from  the  book  would  have  left  unanswered  questions 
which  the  more  advanced  pupils  in  the  high  schools,  and  many  general 
readers,  will  be  certain  to  ask. 

It  is  the  author's  opinion  that  not  enough  attention  is  given  in  our 
schools  to  instruction  relative  to  the  character  and  resources  of  our 
own  State.  Not  enough  attention  to  our  own  State  is  given  by  the  teach- 


iv  PREFACE. 

ers  in  their  private  studies,  and  not  enough  careful  reading  is  done  along 
this  line  by  the  average  citizen. 

In  geography  instruction  in  our  schools  why  do  we  need  to  go  to  South 
America  and  Asia  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  illustrations  of 
land  forms?  Why  do  we  need  to  study  about  the  river  systems,  hills, 
plateaus,  lakes,  soils,  and  resources  of  states  which  are  hundreds  of  miles 
away  in  preference  to  those  of  our  own  State  ?  When  the  child  has  gained 
a  general  idea  of  the  earth  as  a  whole,  and  of  North  America  more  partic- 
ularly, why  should  he  be  required  to  go  to  states  and  countries  which  are 
far  away  for  concrete  examples  ?  Have  we  not  rivers,  lakes,  and  marshes, 
hills,  valleys,  plateaus,  and  plains  in  our  own  State,  which  are  more  access- 
ible and  just  as  real  as  those  of  other  states  ?  Have  we  not  types  of  land- 
scapes, developing  river  systems,  desiccating  lakes,  mineral  and  forest 
problems?  Indeed,  there  are  no  better  examples  in  the  world.  And 
the  writers  of  text-books  for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  Eastern  states  are 
now  coming  to  the  far  West,  to  the  Red  River  Valley  and  elsewhere,  for 
examples  to  illustrate  the  great  principles  of  geographic  science. 

The  author  has  sought  to  reach  three  classes  of  readers  in  this 
book.  The  primary  purpose  has  been  to  adapt  the  language  and  treat- 
ment to  pupils  in  the  higher  grades  of  public  schools.  This  purpose 
has  been  constantly  kept  in  mind,  for  a  large  number  of  boys  and  girls  to 
whom  a  knowledge  of  'the  resources  of  the  State  ought  to  be  of  the  great- 
est value  will  never  enter  the  high  school.  While  some  portions  are  rather 
difficult  for  pupils  of  the  grammar  grades  it  is  thought  that  the  book  as  a 
whole  will  make  a  profitable  half  year's  work  in  the  high  school,  satisfying 
the  requirement  of  the  State  Course  of  Study  in  Geology  or  Physiography. 
And  it  is  hoped  to  reach  a  large  class  of  readers  who  have  entered 
the  practical  school  of  life,  but  who  would  be  benefited  by  a  fuller  and 
more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  character  and  resources  of  the  State 
in  which  they  live. 

It  has  been  impracticable  in  a  book  of  this  character  to  give  specific 
reference  in  the  body  of  the  text  to  the  authors  consulted,  but  the  author 
wishes  to  give  fullest  credit  for  the  use  of  this  information. 

More  than  all  others  the  author  is  indebted  to  the  classic  work  of  Prof. 
Warren  Upham,  "The  Glacial  Lake  Agassiz,"  a  monograph  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey.  This  work  leaves  little  to  be  added 
regarding  the  landscape  geology  of  the  Red  River  Valley  and  the  adjacent 
portions  of  the  State.  He  would  be  a  bold  student  who  would  attempt  to 
cover  the  field  better  than  has  been  done  in  this  comprehensive  quarto  of 
more  than  six  hundred  pages,  but  its  very  elaborateness  renders  it  incon- 
venient for  those  to  whom  its  contents  should  be  of  the  greatest  value. 

The  author  of  this  volume  has  drawn  freely  from  Professor  Upham's 
treatise,  hoping  to  bring  its  vast  fund  of  useful  information  within  reach 
of  the  busy  citizen  who  would  not  be  likely  to  read  a  larger  work. 


I'KEFACE.  V 

Through  the  very  kind  permission  of  Professor  Upham  a  number  of  the 
illustrations  in  his  work  have  been  either  redrawn  and  adapted  to  the 
purpose  of  the  present  work,  or  copied  by  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  at 
Washington. 

The  author  is  also  indebted  to  the  valuable  bulletins  by  Prof.  J.  E.  Todd, 
of  the  University  of  South  Dakota,  for  much  that  is  here  given 
regarding  the  Altamont  and  Gary  Moraines  and  the  landscape  features 
connected  with  these  in  Logan  and  Mclntosh  and  adjoining  counties, 
and  also  for  facts  regarding  Lake  Dakota  in  Dickey  County,  and  for 
several  illustrations.. 

The  valuable  "  Report  of  the  State  Geological  Survey  of  North  Dakota," 
by  Prof.  E.  J.  Babcock  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota,  Grand  Forks, 
has  been  drawn  upon  in  the  treatment  of  the  coal  deposits  of  the  State,  and 
the  author  wishes  to  express  his  appreciation  for  the  kind  permission  to 
use  several  plates  from  this  Report  in  the  present  work. 

The  author  acknowledges  his  personal  indebtedness  to  Prof.  War- 
ren Upham,  Secretary  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Minnesota  ;  to 
Prof.  Charles  M.  Hall,  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  North  Dakota  ;  Prof. 
E.  J.  Babcock,  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota  ;  and  to  Miss  Lillian  V. 
Lambert,  Instructor  in  English  in  the  East  Side  High  School,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  who  read  this  book  in  manuscript,  and  who  by  their 
scholarly  and  valuable  criticisms  greatly  increased  its  value. 

Acknowledgment  is  made  to  all  those  who  have  so  kindly  assisted  in 
the  preparation  of  the  drawings  which  illustrate  the  book.  The  writer's 
thanks  are  particularly  due  to  Miss  M.  Emma  Davis  and  to  Prof. 
Thomas  H.  Grosvenor,  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  Mayville  State 
Normal  School.  Many  illustrations  which  needed  to  be  drawn  under  the 
author's  direction  were  made  possible  by  their  assistance.  Pres. 
Joseph  Carhart,  under  whose  supervision  the  author  has  for  several  years 
had  the  pleasure  of  teaching,  has  given  practical  suggestions  which  have 
been  of  great  value  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume. 

If  this  book  serves  the  purpose  of  making  the  people  of  North  Dakota 
better  acquainted  with  their  State,  and  thereby  enlarges  their  appreciation 
of  tne  opportunities  which  belong  to  them  as  citizens  of  this  growing 
commonwealth,  the  author  will  feel  that  he  is  amply  repaid  for  the  labor 
which  has  been  expended  upon  it. 

D.  E,  W. 

Mayville,  North  Dakota,  State  Normal  School. 
May  /,  igos. 


THE  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  THE  FIRST  —  The  Landscape,                                                                            -  9 

CHAPTER  THE  SECOND  —  Excursions  Afield, --  18 

CHAPTER  THE  THIRD  — The  Work  of  Ice,  28 

CHAPTER  THE  FOURTH  —  An  Excursion  to  Some  Glaciers,    -----  37 

CHAPTER  THE  FIFTH  —  The  Great  Ice-Sheet  in  North  Dakota,        ...  45 

CHAPTER  THE  SIXTH  —  More  Excursions,         -  59 

CHAPTER  THE  SEVENTH  —  North  Dakota,  the  Old  and  the  New,      •  69 

CHAPTER  THE  EIGHTH  — Glacial  Lake  Agassiz,      -        -  77 

CHAPTER  THE  NINTH  — The  Deltas  and  Beaches  of  Lake  Agassiz,         -  90 

CHAPTER  THE  TENTH  — Other  Extinct  Glacial  Lakes,  110 

CHAPTER  THE  ELEVENTH  —  The  History  of  Devils  Lake,                                             -  120 

CHAPTER  THE  TWELFTH  — Tke  Lakes  of  North  Dakota,  124 

CHAPTER  THE  THIRTEENTH  —  Salt  and  Alkaline  Waters  in  Lakes,  -                         -  127 
CHAPTER  THE  FOURTEENTH  —  Map  Studies  :     Distribution  of  the  Lakes  upon  the 

Landscape,  -  -  130 
CHAPTER  THE  FIFTEENTH  —  Lakes  as  a  Landscape  Feature,  139 
CHAPTER  THE  SIXTEENTH  —  The  Bad  Lands,  ...  -  144 
CHAPTER  THE  SEVENTEENTH  —  The  Coal  Beds  of  North  Dakota,  -  -  -  159 
CHAPTER  THE  EIGHTEENTH  —  The  Beginnings  of  North  Dakota,  -  171 
CHAPTER  THE  NINETEENTH  —  The  Water  Supply,  -  181 
CHAPTER  THE  TWENTIETH  —  Soils  and  Resources  of  North  Dakota,  -  -  -  189 
CHAPTER  THE  TWENTY-FIRST  —  Geology  from  a  Car  Window:  The  Great  North- 
ern Lines,  196 
CHAPTER  THE  TWENTY-SECOND  —  Geology  from  a  Car  Window  :  The  Northern 

Pacific  Lines,                                                                                                              -  218 

CHAPTER  THE  TWENTY-THIRD — Geology    from  a  Car  Window:      The    Soo   Line,  233 


A  LIST  OF  THE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

FIG.    1  — A  Geological  Map  of  North  Dakota,     •                         -  Frontispiece 

FIG.    2  —  Erosion  on  Hilly  Landscape,    -  12 

FIG.    3  —  Diagram  showing  how  a  Valley  begins  at  its  own  Mouth,  14 

FIG.    4  — Cross  Section  of  a  Young  Valley,     •  15 

FIG.    5  — A  Cutting  Coulee,  or  Young  Valley,    -  16 

FIG.    6—  'In  the  East  they  work  the  land  on  both  sides,"    -  18 

FIG.    7  —  "In  North  Dakota  enough  can  be  raised  on  one  side,"  19 

FIG.    8  — Three  Types  of  Landscape,  20 
FIG.    9  —  Map  showing  Position  of  Extinct  Glacial  Lakes  and  Direction  of  Ice 

Movement,          ...  39 

FIG.  10  —  Movement  of  Pitch  Illustrated,  32 

FIG.  11  —  View  Along  the  Top  of  a  Terminal  Moraine,  34 

FIG.  12  — The  Snow-field  on  the  Mountain  Top,     •  37 

FIG.  13  — A  Glacier  and  Moraines,        -  38 

FIG.  14  — An  Ice  Cave,  39 

FIG.  15  —  An  Ice  Cascade,  -      40 

FIG.  16  —  A  Terminal  Moraine,  Front  of  Glacier,  and  Glacier  in  Distance,  -  41 

FIG.  17  —  A  Terminal  Moraine  and  Ice  Front  crowding  upon  It,       -  -        -        -'43 

FIG.  18  —  Terminal  Moraine  being  Washed  away  by  Glacial  Stream,  -                             43 

FIG.  19  — An  Old  Moraine,     -  44 

FIG.  20  —  Map  of  Dakota  and  Minnesota  Glaciers,  46 

FIG.  2i  —  Cross  Section  of  the  Valley  of  a  Glacial  Stream,  47 

FIG.  22  —  Beaver  Lake  and  Glacial  Channels,         -  49 

FIG.  23  —  The  Ice-sheet  at  the  time  of  Formation  of  the  Outer  Moraine,  -                       50 

FIG.  24  — A  Small  Hill  being  Planed  Down,    -  51 

FIG.  25  —  Showing  Formation  of  Terminal  Moraine  and  Stratification  of  the  Ice,    -      52 

FIG.  26  —  Showing  Ice  Crowding  upon  Moraine,     -  52 

FIG.  27  — A  Striated  and  Polished  Boulder,         -  53 

FIG.  28  —  Granite  Pebble  showing  Polished  and  Striated  Surface,  53 

FIG.  29—  Photograph  of  Stria?  on  Quartzite,       -  54 

FIG.  30—  Hills  Worn  down  by  the  Action  of  the  Ice,     •  55 

FIG.  31  —  Ideal  Sections  of  the  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau,  -  55 

FIG.  32  —  A  Veneered  Hill,  56 

FIG.  33  —  In  the  Hills  Southwest  of  Minot,  -  58 

FIG.  34  — A  Huge  "  Foreigner,"       -  60 

FIG.  35  —  A  Section  in  a  Gravel  Pit,     -  62 

FIG.  36  — A  Joint  Moraine  formed  by  the  Meeting  of  two  Glaciers,  66 
FIG.  37  —  A  Glacier  and  its  Moraine,    .---------67 

FIG.  38  —  A  Map  of  North  Dakota  showing  the  Highlands,  -  70 

FIG.  39  — The  Tributaries  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,          -        -  -        -        -      73 


Vlll  A   LIST   OF   THE   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

JAGE 

FIG.  40  — Contour  Mayville  and  Westward,     ----....  85 
FIG.  41  —  Section  across  a  Beach  Ridge,       ---------86 

FIG.  42  — Profile  across  Beaches  at  Wheatland, 87 

FIG.  43  — Section  across  Red'River  Valley  at  Wahpeton,  ------  87 

FIG.  44— Section  across  Red  River  Valley  at  Fargo, 88 

FIG.  45  —  Section  .across  Red  River  Valley  at  Grand  Forks,       -        -.       -        -        -  88 

FIG.  46  —  Section  across  the  Red  River  Valley  near  the  International  Boundary,  88 

FIG.  47  — Stratified  Clay,  Bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz,     -        -        -        -        -        -        -  89 

Fie.  48  — Profile  of  Elk  Valley  Delta  at  Larim ore,         -                         ...  91 

FIG.  49  — Section  across  Sheyenne  Delta,     -        - 92 

FIG.  50— Delta  on  Campus  University  of  Chicago, 93 

FIG.  51  —  Section  Elk  Valley  Delta  showing  Stratification, 95 

FIG.  52  — Angular  Outlines  — Not  Passed  over  by  the  Ice, 97 

FIG.  53  —  Smooth  Outlines  —  Showing  Effects  of  Moving  Ice, 97 

FIG.  54—  Profile  of  "  The  Ridge  "  and  Beaches  at  Inkster,  -  98 

FIG.  55— Profile  Park  River  and  Westward,        -                                          -        -        -  99 

FIG.  56  —  Relationship  between  Higher  and  Lower  Beaches  of  Lake  Agassiz,    -  103 

FIG.  57— Map  showing  Multiple  Character  of  Beaches,      -        -        -                         -  104 

FIG.  58  —  Diagram  Illustrating  Progressive  Elevation  of  Beaches  Northward,    -  105 

FIG.  59  —  Sand  Dunes  Burying  Forest, .-        -        -  115 

pIG.  60  — Lakes  on  the  Top  of  Turtle  Mountain,     -        -  135 

FIG.  61  — Map  of  Rush  Lake,         -                                                                                     -  142 

FIG.  62  — Pyramid  Butte,  -        ...  146 

FIG.  63  — A  Table  Rock  or  Capped  Butte,    -                                                                    -  147 

FIG.  64— A  Ranchman's  "  Schack,"         -------                 -  149 

FIG.  65  — The  Stratified  Character  of  a  Butte,     -        -        -' 150 

FIG,  66— Crags  of  Scoria  in  the  Bad  Lands, 152 

FIG.  67  — Custer  Trail  Ran che, 153 

FIG.  68  — Map  showing  Coal  Area  of  North  Dakota, 160 

FIG.  69  — Section  in  Old  Sims  Mine, 161 

FIG.  70  —  Coal  Seam  on  the  Missouri  River,    --------  165 

FIG.  71  —  Mouse  River  Coal  Company's  Mine, -  167 

FIG.  72  —  Section  Mouse  River  Coal  Company's  Mine, 168 

FIG.  73  — Section  Lehigh  Mine, -  169 

FIG.  74  —  Section  across  Northern  North  Dakota,  -------  171 

FIG.  75  —  Map  of  North  America  in  Cretaceous  Era,  -        -        -        -        -        -        -174 

FIG.  76  — Section  of  Artesian  Well  at  Graf  ton,        -        -                 -  177 

FIG.  77  —  Section  showing  Origin  of  Water  in  Deep  Artesian  Wells,         ...  182 
FIG.  78  —  Section  showing  Series  of  Artesian  Wells,  Devils  Lake  to  Vermilion, 

South  Dakota, 184 

FIG.  79  — Section  showing  Water  Supply  of  Fresh  Artesian  Wells,   -        -        -        -  186 

FIG.  80  —  Diagram  showing  Relationship  of  Artesian  Wells  at  Grandin,     -        -  187 

FIG.  81  —  Farm  Fields  in  the  East,                                                  190 

FIG.  82  — The  Big  Fields  in  North  Dakota, 191 

FIG.  88— Banks  of  the  Missouri  River  Underlain  with  Coal, 193 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

CHAPTER  THE  FIRST. 

THE  LANDSCAPE. 

INTRODUCTION. 

How  many  of  the  readers  of  this  book  understand  what  is  meant  by 
the  words  Landscape  Geology?  Every  one  has  seen  a  landscape,  but 
we  often  hear  people  speak  about  Geology  as  though  that  meant  rocks 
and  stones  and  minerals  and  was  therefore  hard  and  dry.  It  is  true 
that  Geology  deals  with  rocks  and  stones  and  minerals,  among  other 
things,  and  sometimes  it  is  hard  and  dry.  But  Arithmetic  and  Gram- 
mar are  sometimes  "hard  and  dry"  also.  It  may  not  always  be  the 
fault  of  the  subject  that  it  is  uninteresting.  The  trouble  may  be  in  the 
-way  it  is  studied. 

When  the  author  was  a  boy  and  sat  upon  a  hard,  old-fashioned 
wooden  bench  in  a  little  country  schoolhouse  between  the  hills,  in  the 
state  of  Xew  York,  he  used  to  think  the  reading  lessons  were  pretty 
"hard  and  dry."  Since  he  has  become  older,  however,  he  has  come  to 
think  that  the  fault  was  not  in  the  subject,  for  he  now  finds  these  same 
speeches  of  Webster  and  Clay  and  Washington,  and  selections  from 
Irving  and  Lowell  and  Emerson,  very  interesting.  The  trouble  seems 
to  have  been  in  the  way  he  studied  them.  He  did  not  see  the  beauty 
in  them.  He  saw  big  words  hard  to  pronounce  and  harder  to  spell,  and 
punctuation  marks,  at  which  he  must  stop,  put  in  between  the  words! 
Wrhen  he  read  it  was  to  pronounce  the  words  and  mind  the  pauses ! 

The  trouble  was  not  with  the  lessons,  for  they  were  beautiful  and 
grand.  The  trouble  was  not  entirely  with  the  boy,  for  he  tried  to  do 
what  he  was  told  to  do.  Perhaps  the  fault  was  not  altogether  that  of 
the  teacher,  for  she  did  not  know  any  better ! 

If  after  the  reader  has  studied  this  book  he  finds  Geology  "hard  and 
dry"  the  trouble  will  certainly  not  be  with  the  subject,  and  probably  not 


10  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

with  the  reader.  If  the  author  has  not  made  the  landscape,  the  fields, 
the  roadside,  the  school  grounds,  the  river  and  the  lake,  more  interesting 
because  we  have  come  to  know  more  about  them  and  to  see  something 
more  than  mere  rocks  and  stones,  sand  and  water,  then  it  is  his  fault 
and  not  that  of  the  subject. 

In  geography  we  sometimes  think  of  the  things  we  are  studying 
about  as  far  away,  in  some  other  state,  or  in  some  other  country,  the 
features  of  some  landscape  somewhere,  but  we,  may  be,  do  not  realize 
that  it  means  our  State,  our  neighborhood,  our  school  grounds,  our  door- 
yard. 

One  who  knows  Botany  sees  a  good  deal  more  in  the  fields  than 
grass  and  grain,  weeds,  trees  and  bushes.  The  psychologist  says  he 
"apperceives"  more.  We  do  not  wish  to  talk  about  apperception  now,  at 
least  we  do  not  wish  to  call  it  by  that  name,  but  we  wish  to  talk  about 
some  things  which,  may  be,  we  have  not  seen  in  the  fields  round  about  us, 
in  our  own  State,  our  own  neighborhood,  and  so  perhaps  come  to  see 
the  great  beautiful  world  in  a  larger  and  fuller  sense,  and  may  be  to  a 
larger  realization  of  what  is  ours  to  enjoy. 

Just  as  the  botanist  sees  more  than  grass  and  weeds  and  trees  in 
the  fields,  so  may  we  all  see  more  than  soil  in  the  ploughed  fields,  more 
than  a  hindrance  to  farming  in  the  stones  in  the  fields,  more  than  poor 
land  in  the  hilly  farm,  more  than  a  misfortune  in  the  rugged  coulee 
which  cuts  into  the  level  prairie  wheatfield,  more  than  a  hay-meadow 
in  the  level  marsh,  more  than  wheat  in  the  waving  billowy  sea  of  grain, 
more  than  a  useless  waste  in  the  boggy  slough,  more  than  a  worthless 
waste  in  the  sandy  tract  of  dunes  upon  which  barely  a  vestige  of  any- 
thing green  exists.  There  is  a  grand  and  beautiful  meaning  in  all  the 
varied  landscape  of  our  State  if  we  can  but  read  Nature's  story  book. 
In  these  pages  the  author  has  tried  to  make  readable  a  few  of  the 
paragraphs  of  this  great  book,  paragraphs  which  are  not  too  commonly 
read  and  not  too  fully  enjoyed  by  the  average  of  human  kind. 

Have  you  ever  wondered  why  the  prairies  are  prairie  and  the  hills 
are  hilly?  Or  have  you,  may  be,  thought  about  it  and  said  to  yourself 
that  you  supposed  God  made  the  prairies  and  hills  because  He  saw  fit 
to  do  so,  and  made  some  parts  of  the  world  hilly  and  some  parts  level 
because  in  His  great  wisdom  it  pleased  Him  to  so  arrange  things?  This 
may  enable  you  to  satisfy  your  wondering  curiosity,  but  a  little  thinking 
will  enable  you  to  see  that,  while  God  in  very  truth  made  the  hills  and 
the  prairies  and  made  some  parts  of  the  world  different  from  other  parts, 


THE  LANDSCAPE.  11 

nevertheless  this  does  not  answer  the  question  why  things  are  as  they 
are ;  for  this  great  universe  which  an  All-wise  Creator  made  and  which 
He  rules  is  governed  by  laws  in  accordance  with  which  the  prairies  and 
the  hills  have  been  formed,  the  water  and  the  dry  lands  have  assumed 
their  places,  the  rivers  and  the  lakes  have  established  themselves,  and  the 
face  of  all  the  landscape  has  been  fashioned. 

Hills  and  Valleys. — Every  one  who  reads  these  pages  has  seen  a  val- 
ley, and  also  what  might  be  called  hills.  Maybe  the  valley  was  only  a 
ditch  or  small  coulee  on  the  prairie  and  the  hills  only  little  banks  one  or 
two  feet  high.  But  the  importance  of  things  is  not  always  measured  by 
their  size.  Maybe  you  have  been  in  those  parts  of  our  State,  or  some 
other  state,  where  there  are  great  rugged  hills  and  broad,  deep  valleys. 
Whoever  has  seen  hills  has  also  seen  valleys.  Have  you  ever  thought 
that  there  might  be  a  necessary  relation  between  the  hills  and  'the  val- 
leys? Perhaps  you  have  been  accustomed  to  thinking  of  the  earth  as 
"made"  in  the  beginning  with  oceans  and  continents  and  mountains, 
with  plains  and  rivers  of  water  flowing  through  them,  and  have  never 
questioned  but  that  these  have  always  been  so.  But  a  little  observation 
and  reflection  at  once  teaches  that  this  is  not  so,  for  you  have  not  failed 
to  see  that  the'  river  is  constantly  changing  the  land, — a  little  soil  is 
being  washed  into  the  valley  from  the  banks  along  its  sides  with  every 
rain  and  this  is  carried  down  the  stream.  All  streams  transport  mate- 
rials by  carrying  them  or  shoving  and  rolling  them  along  their  bottoms. 

Perhaps  you  have  watched  the  sand  and  pebbles  creeping  down 
stream  on  a  gravelly  bottom,  and  wondered  how  long  this  process  has 
been  going  on,  and  when  it  was  that  soil  and  sand  began  to  be  carried 
down  stream.  And  then  perhaps  you  wondered  if  the  stream  would 
ever  stop  carrying  away  the  soil  and  sand  toward  the  ocean.  By  and  by 
you  began  to  think  that  this  carrying  away  process  must  have  begun  as 
soon  as  there  was  any  land  on  which  rain  fell ;  and  so  also  you  concluded 
that  this  constant  wearing  away  of  the  land,  called  erosion,  will  keep 
on  as  long  as  there  is  any  land  left  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  occurs 
to  you  that  likely  this  has  been  going  on  ever  since  the  beginning  of 
things  and  you  perhaps  begin  to  wonder  if  the  land  will  not  all  be  car- 
ried away  in  time  and  you  wonder  if  there  has  not  been  more  land  here 
sometime  which  has  been  carried  away.  When  you  think  that  "the 
beginning"  was  a  good  while  ago  you  are  forced  to  conclude  that  a 
good  deal  of  land  has  been  carried  away.  And  when  you  think  that 
the  land  which  is  nearest  the  rivers  is  the  first  to  be  carried  awav,  and 


12 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 


How  the  Farm  is  Lost. 


How  the  Farm  is  Retained. 

FIG.  2.    Showing  the  Erosion  of  Young  Valleys  on  a  Hilly  Landscape. 
Photographed  from  a  Chart,  by  Prof .  E.  S.  Kcene. 


THE    LANDSCAPE.  13 

that  the  hills  and  higher  lands  are  but  the  parts  which  are  farther 
away  and  have  not  yet  been  carried  away,  you  see  that  the  river  or 
running  stream  is  the  agent  which  is  doing  the  work  of  carving  and 
fashioning  the  landscape. 

The  river  is  water  seeking  its  level.  The  rains  loosen  the  soil  on 
the  banks  of  streams  SO'  that  it,  too,  seeks  a  lower  level,  or  falls.  The 
energy  of  the  sun  causes  water  to  evaporate  and  rise  as  vapor.  This 
forms  the  clouds,  and  the  clouds  are  blown  by  the  winds  and  carried 
over  the  land.  Then  they  fall  as  rain  and  again  form  rivers.  Then 
the  rivers,  as  we  have  seen,  flow  off  the  land  and  carry  with  them  the 
soil  or  fine  parts  of  the  earth,  the  materials  of  which  the  hills  are  made. 
So  long  as  the  sun  furnishes  heat  the  waters  will  be  evaporated,  and 
clouds  will  be  formed,  and  rains  will  fall  upon  the  earth,  and  rivers 
will  flow  into  the  seas.  And  so  the  endless  cycle  goes  on,  has  been 
going  on  through  the  long  aeons  of  the  past,  and  will  continue  to  go  on 
through  the  lapse  of  ages  to  come.  And  so  the  continents  are  being 
gradually  worn  down  and  carried  into  the  seas.  The  "everlasting 
hills"  are  not  everlasting.  They  tarry  but  a  day  when  time  is  meas- 
ured in  geologic  cycles.  In  truth,  "one  day  is  with  the  Creator  as  a 
thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day."  The  little  rivulet 
which  runs  by  the  school-house  playground  or  along  the  roadside  is 
doing  the  same  kind  of  work  in  carrying  away  the  land  to  the  ocean 
as  the  river,  only  on  a  smaller  scale.  But  it  is  only  a  question  of  time 
till  the  level  prairies  will  give  way  to  the  hilly  landscape,  and  finally 
the  hills  will  yield  to  the  constant  wearing  of  the  streams.  When  the 
landscape  has  been  thus  worn  away  so  that  the  land  is  but  little 
higher  than  the  ocean-level  then  it  is  said  to  have  reached  its  base- 
level  of  erosion. 

Beginnings  of  a  landscape. — If  a  new  continent  were  imagined  to 
arise  out  of  the  ocean,  upon  which  were  no  rivers,  no  valleys  or  hills, 
its  surface  sloping  uniformly  to  the  sea,  how  would  rivers  get  started? 
It  must  be  that  they  would  form  in  some  way,  for  there  are  rivers  or 
streams  on  all  continents  where  rain  falls.  Children  have  been  taught 
sometimes  (let  us  hope  not  in  the  schools  of  our  own  State)  that  rivers 
were  established  in  their  courses  by  a  gathering  of  waters  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  continent  and  that  this  water  flowed  across  the  land  wher- 
ever it  could  go  most  easily,  and  in  so  doing  cut  a  channel  and  became 
established  in  a  definite  course.  Now,  all  the  water  there  is  on  the 
land  in  lakes  or  streams  or  in  the  soil  comes  from  the  rain  which  falls 


14  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

upon  the  land.  A  large  part  of  the  rain-water  percolates  into  the  soil 
and  rocks  of  the  earth.  Some  of  it  collects  in  low  places  and  forms 
lakes,  pools,  and  marshes.  From  these  a  good  deal  evaporates  and 
goes  into  the  air  to  form  clouds  again. 

Now,  where  will  a  river  have  its  beginning?  Where  will  a  definite 
stream  channel  first  appear?  Will  it  start  from  the  interior  and  flow 
toward  the  sea?  What  will  start  it?  Does  any  more  water  fall  on  the 
land  in  the  interior  than  nearer  the  sea?  Since  the  land  is  higher  than 
the  sea,  the  land  waters  will  tend  to  move  toward  the  sea.  Where  are 
the  waters  which  will  reach  the  sea  first?  It  is  plain,  the  waters  nearest 
the  sea.  And  since  moving  water  always  cuts  a  channel,  or  erodes 
the  land  over  which  it  flows,  the  first  soil  to  be  carried  to  the  ocean  and 
deposited  on  its  bottom  as  sediment  will  be  the  soil  which  was  at  the 
margin,  or  edge  of  the  land,  and  the  beginning  of  a  channel  or  valley 
will  be  at  the  edge  of  the  land.  The  next  water  to  get  to  the  sea  will 
be  that  which  fell  on  the  land  near  to  the  edge  but  a  little  farther  inland. 
Then  that  from  a  little  farther  inland  still,  and  so  on,  till  finally  the 
water  from  the  interior  will  get  down  to  the  shore. 

But  where  now  has  the  valley  been  cut  most?  Where  is  the  largest 
part  of  the  river?  Where  did  the  river  begin? 

If  we  indicate  a  series  of  small  areas  extending  from  the  sea-shore 
toward  the  inland  by  the  letters  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  the  waters  which 
fall  upon  a  will  be  the  first  to  reach  the  sea ;  those  which  fall  upon  b  will 


FIG.  3.     Diagram  showing  how  a  Valley  begins  at  its  own  Mouth. 

be  next,  taking  advantage  in  their  course  of  the  channel  made  by 
the  waters  of  a;  those  falling  upon  c  will  be  the  next,  and  these  will 
go  down  by  the  channel  made  by  a  and  b;  and  d  will  in  turn  reach  the 
sea  coursing  down  the  channel  made  by  a,  b  and  c,  making  the  channel 
deeper  and  wider  by  erosion;  and  at  length  e,  f,  g  and  h  will  reach 
the  sea. 

Let  us  now  compare  one  part  of  the  valley  with  another  from  a  to 


THE   LANDSCAPE. 


15 


h.  How  do  the  amounts  of  water  which  have  gone  over  each  area 
compare?  Suppose  we  say  the  water  which  falls  upon  one  area  is 
one  volume.  Then  if  the  whole  length  of  the  valley  is  the  distance 
from  a  to  h,  and  if  we  suppose  all  the  water  which  falls  on  each  area 
to  go  down  the  valley,  the  water  which  passes  over  a  will  be  seven 
times  as  much  as  passes  over  g,  that  which  passes  over  b  will  be  six 
times  as  much  as  passes  over  g,  five  times  as  much  over  c  as  over  g, 
and  so  on,  while  from  h  will  pass  only  the  water  which  falls  upon 
that  area. 

Where  there  is  the  most  water,  other  things  being  equal,  there  is 
the  greatest  erosion.  Where  then  has  the  greatest  channel  been 
formed?  And  where  is  the  river  largest?  And  finally,  where  does 
the  valley  of  a  river  begin,  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  or  at  its  own 
mouth? 

Let  us  now  think  of  the  series  of  areas,  a,  b,  c,  d,  etc.,  as  a  thousand, 
and  the  extent  of  each  area  to  be  large.  From  the  farthest  and  highest 
part  of  the  continent  the  waters  may  be  thought  of  as  a  long  time 
in  reaching  the  sea.  There  will  be  then  a  broad  and  deep  valley  nearer 
the  sea,  and  it  will  be  smaller  and  smaller  as  we  go  inland,  and  on  the 
thousandth  area,  or  the  summit  of  the  continent,  it  will  be  only  a 
place  where  rain  falls,  with  hardly  a  beginning  of  a  coulee. 

Let  us  now  go  out  upon  the  level  prairies  of  North  Dakota  and 
look  at  the  coulees  and  see  what  we  can  observe  of  the  workings  of  a 
river  system.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  find  any  examples  of  what  we  have 
just  been  studying.  If  we  select  a  day  when  it  has  been  raining  for 
some  time  so  that  the  land  is  well  covered  with  water,  we  shall  be  able 
to  see  in  reality  what  we  have  been  seeing  in  imagination.  Here  on 
the  prairie,  cutting  through  level  wheat  fields,  is  a  coulee,  a  little  valley 


FIG.  4.    Cross  Section  of  a  Young  Valley. 


16 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


having  steep  sides,  growing  wider  down  stream  and  narrower  up 
stream,  its  sides  becoming  less  steep  towards  the  mouth  and  more  steep 
towards  its  head.  In  the  bottom  of  this  trough  or  notch  in  the  prairie 
trickles  a  tiny  stream.  Can  it  be  that  this  stream  has  carried  away 
the  earth  which  once  occupied  the  space  where  is  now  the  trough  or 
coulee?  Strewn  along  the  bottom  are  boulders,  sand  and  gravel,  the 
heavier  masses  which  could  not  so  easily  be  carried  away  by  the  waters 
and  which  were  in  the  soil  or  earth  which  has  been  carried  away.  If 
we  go  out  upon  the  land  some  distance  from  the  coulee  and  look  across 
it  we  shall  see  that  the  whole  trough  of  the  young  valley  is  below  the 


Young  Valley.      Photograph  by  Prof.  C/ias.  M.  Hull. 


level  of  the  surrounding  country.  On  the  level  prairies  of  the  Rod 
River  Valley  you  could  imagine  a  great  board  or  plank  to  exte-id 
across  from  the  prairie  on  one  side  to  the  prairie  on  the  other.  The 
Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado  River  is  but  a  great  coulee  cut  down  by 
the  river  deep  into  the  plain.  The  materials  of  which  the  great  Colo- 
rado plateau  is  made  are  of  such  kind  that  the  moving  waters  cut  it 
away  rapidly,  and  the  walls  on  either  side  are  steep  and  high.  Canyon  is 
another  name  for  a  young  valley. 

Let  us  now  go  along  the  bank  of  the  coulee  and  see  if  we  can  dis- 
cover how  the  valley  got  started.  All  about  upon  the  level  prairie 
we  see  water  standing  in  sheets  from  recent  heavy  rains.  If  we  ask 
ourselves  if  the  prairie  will  by  and  by  be  dry  again  we  shall  certainly 


THE  LANDSCAPE.  17 

answer  that  it  will,  for  it  has  often  been  very  wet  before  and  has  become 
dry  again.  Where  did  the  water  go?  It  soaked  into  the  ground,  or 
a  part  of  it  did,  and  some  of  it  evaporated,  and  went  to  help  make 
clouds.  But  how  about  the  water  which  was  near  by  the  edge  of  the 
coulee?  Some  of  it  fell  down  the  side  into  the  trough  carrying  with 
it  always  some  soil.  If  it  chanced  that  there  was  a  depression  or  lower 
place  in  the  prairie,  and  there  always  are  such  places,  this  hollow  was 
filled  with  water,  and  if  the  low  place  is  so  near  the  coulee  that  its 
waters  break  over  the  edge  and  fall  down  the  side,  or  if  a  little  rivulet 
on  the  bank  of  the  coulee  should  cut  back  into  the  edge  of  the  little 
"lake"  and  tap  it,  then  its  water  would  be  drained.  But  in  falling  down 
the  side  of  the  coulee  the  water  cuts  a  little  channel,  and  \vhen  it  rains 
again  the  water  which  falls  in  this  hollow,  or  lake,  will  run  into  the 
valley  through  the  little  channel  formed  before,  cutting  this  deeper. 
If  this  depression  were  a  large  one  the  little  channel  would  become 
a  feeder  to  the  larger  stream  which  made  the  valley,  and  it  would  then 
be  called  a  tributary  to  the  valley. 

If  we  go  dow-n  the  course  of  the  coulee  to  see  where  it  ends  we 
shall  see  that  it  discharges  into  a  larger  stream,  or  maybe  runs  into  a 
lake.  If  it  joins  a  larger  stream  then  it  is  itself  a  tributary  to  the  larger 
stream. 

How  then  did  the  coulee  or  young  valley  get  started?  In  just  the 
same  way  as  the  branch  or  tributary,  for  the  coulee  is  only  a  branch  of 
a  larger  stream.  How  does  a  coulee  or  valley  increase  its  length?  If 
you  watch  a  little  rivulet  by  the  roadside  when  it  is  raining  hard  you 
will  see  that  the  head  of  the  little  stream  pushes  back  toward  the  land 
as  the  \vater  from  the  land  falls  over  into  the  little  valley.  In  fact  it 
grows  longer  in  just  the  same  way  as  it  got  started  in  the  first  place, 
by  water  falling  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  level  and  carrying  the  soil 
along  \vith  it. 


CHAPTER  THE  SECOND. 

EXCURSIONS   AFIELD. 

A  Few  Comparisons — North  Dakota  is  one  of  the  "prairie  states." 
Yet  those  who  have  seen  the  various  parts  of  the  State  often  speak 
of  the  "hills"  in  any  place  as  though  North  Dakota  could  be  said  to 
have  real  hills!  Compared  with  Pennsylvania  or  New  York  or  Ver- 
mont the  "hills"  of  North  Dakota  are  hardly  more  than  knolls.  When 
eastern  people  think  of  a  North  Dakota  landscape  they  often  think  of 
broad-reaching  prairies  limited  to  the  view  only  by  the  distance  the 
eye  can  reach.  North  Dakotans  will  make  no  serious  objection  to 
such  opinions  being  held,  especially  when  the  rugged  hilly  character 
of  many  eastern  landscapes  is  considered.  And  even  if  it  be  contended 
that  in  the  east  they  can  almost  "work  the  land  on  both  sides"  because 
the  surface  appears  to  be  turned  up  on  edge,  yet  we  are  satisfied  to  answer 


FIG.  6.    In  the  East  they  work  the  land  on  both  sides'. 

Photograph  by  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Co. 

18 


EXCURSIONS  AFIELD. 


19 


FIG.  7.     In  North  Dakota  enough  can  be  raised  on  one  side! 
Photograph  by  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Co. 

that  we  can  raise  more  on  the  one  side  of  our  prairies  than  can  be  raised 
in  the  states  named  on  two  sides. 

But  those  who  know  the  geography  of  North  Dakota  know  that 
the  whole  story  has  not  been  told  when  it  is  said  that  ours  is  a  prairie 
state.  There  are  prairies  and  prairies!  Level  prairies  and  rolling 
prairies.  And  sometimes  the  "rolling"  is  so  -marked  that  we  may  ven- 
ture to  speak  of  it  as  "hilly." 

Compare  the  floor-like  level  about  Fargo  or  Grand  Forks,  Cassel- 
ton  or  Grafton,  or  any  part  of  the  Red  River  Valley;  the  rolling-prairie 
country  about  Langclon  or  Devils  Lake,  Oakes  or  Ellendale;  the 
rugged  and  unploughed  hills  between  Hope  and  Valley  City,  or  the 
picturesque  "curves"  of  the  landscape  along  the  Sheyenne  River  in 
Foster  county;  the  billowy  ups  and  downs  on  the  Coteaus  of  the  Mis- 
souri west  of  Minot;  the  steep  and  bouldery  landscape  south  of  Dog 
Den  Butte  in  McLean  County;  the  broken-prairie  country  about  Dick- 
inson known  as  the  "breaks;"  the  ragged  and  rock-ribbed  hills,  known 
as  "buttes,"  in  the  valley  of  the  Little  Missouri.  We  shall  see  that 
while  Xorth  Dakota  is  a  prairie  state  yet  she  has  much  diversity  of 
surface. 

Again,  in  some  places  the  fields  are  very  stony,  in  others  hardly  a 
stone  can  be  found  over  great  areas.  And  not  only  this  but  the  stones 
are  mostly  rounded  and  smooth,  while  in  some  places  they  are  nearly 
all  angular  and  rough.  Some  of  the  lands  are  called  "light,"  having 
a  dry  sandy  soil  with  no  stones  larger  than  sand  grains,  and  some  are 
"heavy,"  with  a  clayey  soil,  often  with  large  stones  imbedded  in  the 
clay  or  on  the  surface.  And  still  again,  some  of  the  fields  are  black, 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


with  a  deep  loamy  soil.  And  these  differences  often  occur  within 
short  distances.  One  who  has  ridden  over  the  Great  Northern  Rail- 
way westward  from  Larimore  may  have  observed  that  there  is  an 
abrupt  change  from  the  level  prairie  east  of  Larimore  to  the  "hilly" 
prairie  to  the  west.  The  same  kind  of  a  change,  though  not  nearly  as 
great,  occurs  four  miles  west  of  Wheatland  on  the  Northern  Pacific 


BROKEN. 

FIG.  8.    Three  Types  of  Landscape. 

line,  where  that  road  rises  off  from  the  level  Red  River  Valley  onto 
the  highland  to  the  west. 

East  of  the  city  of  Devils  Lake  the  prairie  swells  and  rolls  in  grace- 
ful undulations.  Go  across  the  lake  and  the  landscape  becomes  very 
hilly,  and  often  the  hillsides  are  strewn  with  large  boulders.  From 
Towner  to  Minot  the  country  is  gently  uneven  prairie.  West  of 
Minot  there  is  a  sudden  change  to  a  high  plateau  with  an  uneven  and 
hilly  surface.  Along  the  Goose  River  east  of  Mayville  the  fields  are 
almost  as  level  as  the  floor  of  the  school-house,  and  the  soil  is  black 


EXCURSIONS  AFIELD.  21 

and  when  wet  exceedingly  sticky.  Travel  west  toward  Sherbrooke 
and  it  will  be  observed  that  the  soil  becomes  sandy,  and  well  defined 
sand-ridges  run  north  and  south.  About  Sherbrooke  the  hills  are 
sharply  rolling  and  the  soil  is  less  black. 

In  many  parts  of  the  State  fields  free  from  stones  and  those  which 
are  very  stony  are  intermingled.  And  it  is  noticeable  that  the  stones 
are  nearly  all  rounded  and  smoothed.  Cross  the  Missouri  River  how- 
ever in  the  western  part  of  the  State  and  the  hills  are  seen  to  be  different 
in  shape.  Here  they  are  flat  on  top  with  trough-like  valleys  between 
them  very  different  from  the  rounded  hollows  among  the  hills  on  the 
rolling  prairies,  and  the  "cobble-stones"  or  boulders,  which  are  so 
common  over  much  of  the  State,  soon  disappear  entirely  west  of  the 
Missouri  River. 

North  Dakota  has  level  and  rolling  prairies,  hills  and  hollows,  lakes 
and  marshes,  fields  very  stony  and  those  free  from  stones,  fertile  farm- 
ing lands  the  best  and  richest  in  the  world,  other  lands  more  valuable 
for  grazing  than  for  farming,  and  the  most  wonderful  "Bad  Lands," 
all  resulting  from  geologic  agencies.  They  are  not  so  by  accident  or 
chance.  They  are  geologic  facts.  Their  explanation  belongs  to  the 
science  of  Landscape  Geology. 

An  Excursion  Among  the  Boulders. — Everyone  has  noticed  boul- 
ders scattered  here  and  there  over  the  prairies, — big  boulders  some- 
times weighing  several  tons  and  smaller  ones  of  all  sizes  down  to 
"cobbles"  weighing  a  few  ounces,  and  pebbles  of  the  size  of  marbles, 
and  finally  gravel  and  fine  sand.  A  little  study  of  the  soil  will  show 
that  it  also  is  made  up  largely  of  tiny  particles  or  grains  of  sand  which 
are  boulders  reduced  to  small  size.  And  the  familiar  clay  which  is  so 
common  a  feature  of  the  soil  a  little  below  the  surface  is  but  the  still 
finer  particles  of  broken  rocks  so  finely  ground  or  pulverized  as  to 
make  the  separate  particles  not  able  to  be  seen  without  the  aid  of  a 
microscope.  Boulders  are  seen  scattered  sometimes  in  groups  or 
patches,  sometimes  a  single  one  with  no  others  near,  and  big  and  little 
are  mingled  in  great  confusion.  Sometimes  a  sand  pit  is  seen  in  which 
the  sand  is  arranged  nicely  in  layers;  and  occasionally  a  stray  boulder 
is  found  in  the  sand,  sometimes  many  of  them.  It  has  also  been  no- 
ticed that  the  boulders  are  very  unlike  in  kind.  Some  of  them  when 
broken  look  very  much  like  broken  glass,  often  having  a  milk'y  gray 
appearance.  These  are  called  quartz,  or  quartzite  boulders.  They  are 
among  the  hardest  of  all  the  rocks  commonly  found  in  the  fields  or 


22  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

in  quarries.  It  is  the  same  kind  of  rock  as  that  from  which  window 
glass  is  made.  It  is  so  hard  that  a  freshly  broken  piece  of  it  will  readily 
cut  or  mark  window  glass.  A  steel  knife  blade  will  leave  a  black  mark 
like  a  pencil  mark  on  it.  By  remembering  these  things  you  can  easily 
tell  which  are  the  quartz  boulders  in  the  field. 

Another  kind  which  is  likely  to  be  found  in  any  group  of  boulders 
is  one  which  when  broken  will  show  a  rough  surface  with  little  blocks 
having  a  somewhat  cubical  shape,  and  colored  pinkish  or  reddish, 
though  sometimes  white,  and  often  flesh-colored.  The  surfaces  of 
these  little  cubes  are  smooth  and  shiny,  and  reflect  the  sunlight  so  that 
they  look  very  bright.  These  little  blocks  or  crystals,  for  they  are 
really  crystals,  are  a  mineral  called  feldspar.  They  may  be  so  small 
as  not  to  be  easily  distinguished,  and  sometimes  the  little  shiny  faces 
are  one  or  two  inches  across.  Mixed  with  these  feldspar  crystals  may 
be  seen  little  black  specks  or  plates.  These  also  vary  much  in  size. 
When  they  are  large  enough  they  may  be  easily  split  with  the  point  of  a 
knife  into  thin  scales.  This  mineral  is  soft  and  can  be  cut  or  scratched 
with  a  knife  point.  These'  are  crystals  of  mica,  and  when  they  occur 
in  large  plates  are  cut  up  and  split  apart  into  thin  pieces  and  used  in 
coal  stoves.  The  micas  used  in  coal  stoves  are  simply  pieces  cut  out 
of  very  large  crystals.  The  mica  crystals  seen  in  boulders  are  some- 
times black,  sometimes  clear,  sometimes  brown,  and  sometimes  green- 
ish. But  they  are  always  soft  and  can  always  be  split  into  thin  scales. 
A  third  mineral  which  is  always  present  in  the  kind  of  boulder  we  are 
now  describing  is  quartz,  the  same  quartz  as  has  been  before  spoken  of 
as  making  up  some  whole  boulders.  It  has  somewhat  the  appearance 
of  broken  pieces  of  glass,  scattered  through  the  rock  among  the  feld- 
spar and  mica  crystals.  These  particles  of  quartz  are  sometimes  hard 
to  distinguish  from  feldspar,  but  the  faces  of  the  little  blocks  are  never 
shiny  like  those  of  feldspar,  and  it  is  never  in  little  square  blocks  like 
feldspar.  Then  it  may  be  remembered  that  quartz  is  very  hard.  Feld- 
spar is  hard,  but  not  as  hard  as  quartz. 

These  three  minerals,  feldspar,  mica  and  quartz,  make  up  the  rock 
called  granite,  and  these  boulders  are  granite  boulders,  the  same  kind 
of  granite  as  is  used  for  making  tombstones  and  for  building  purposes. 
It  is  a  very  hard  rock  and  is  not  easily  broken.  The  action  of  frost 
and  sun  has  little  effect  upon  it,  and  it  also  takes  a  fine  polish.  These 
things  make  it  very  valuable  for  monuments  and  building  purposes.  A 
fourth  mineral  called  hornblende  is  often  found  in  connection  with  the 


EXCURSIONS  AFIELD.  23 

three  named,  and  this  is  somewhat  like  mica  in  appearance.  It  is, 
hov:ever,  harder  than  mica  and  does  not  split  into  thin  scales  so  easily 
as  mica  and  it  is  generally  in  thicker  masses,  and  is  usually  green  or 
greenish-black  in  color. 

These  two  kinds  of  boulders,  quartzites  and  granites,  are  among 
the  most  common.  These  are  the  more  familiar  "hard-heads"  which 
everyone  has  observed.  Besides  these,  however,  there  are  others 
which  when  broken  do  not  present  the  glassy,  milky  or  grayish  appear- 
ance of  the  quartzites  nor  the  flesh-colored,  red,  brown  or  specked 
appearance  of  the  granites.  Limestone  boulders  are  common  in  North 
Dakota,  and  in  most  of  the  northwestern  states.  These  can  be  known, 
however,  by  their  softer  character,  and  usually  by  being  more  affected 
by  the  action  of  sun  and  frost.  They  dissolve  and  crumble  much  more 
readily  than  the  others.  A  good  deal  of  the  soil  of  North  Dakota  is 
made  of  ground-up  limestone,  and  as  we  shall  see  by  and  by  this  ma- 
terial has  helped  to  make  our  rich  wheat-fields  and  also  to  make  our 
wells  furnish  hard  water. 

Still  other  boulders  there  are  which  have  long  hard  names  which 
we  do  not  need  to  describe  here  in  particular,  but  only  to  say  that 
there  are  a  good  many  others  and  nearly  all  of  them  are  made  of  hard 
materials  so  that  they  do  not  easily  crumble  or  break.  This  fact  of 
their  being  hard  is  important,  for  we  shall  see  later  that  this  helps  to 
explain  why  they  are  here.  They  have  not  been  broken  up  or  dis- 
solved, because  they  were  so  hard.  But  a  fact  that  we  should  notice 
here  is  that  these  different  kinds  are  found  scattered  almost  all  over 
our  State  and  over  other  northern  states  as  well;  limestone,  granites, 
quartzites,  hornblendes,  augites,  cherts  and  many  others,  large,  small, 
and  all  sizes,  mixed,  and  scattered  singly  and  ii»  patches,  sometimes 
almost  covering  the  ground  and  sometimes  few  and  far  apart,  on  the 
surtace  and  deep  in  the  soil  below  the  surface. 

This  great  variety  in  kinds,  in  sizes  and  in  the  way  they  are  scat- 
tered leads  us  to  inquire  how  this  has  all  come  about,  where  have  the 
stones  come  from  and  why  are  they  so  different  in  kind  and  size,  and 
so  curiously  scattered?  Why  are  huge  boulders  sometimes  found  on 
the  tops  of  the  hills  as  well  as  in  the  valleys?  And  again  sometimes 
not  even  a  good-sized  pebble  can  be  found  for  miles.  Then  again  it 
is  all  sand  for  miles,  suddenly  changing  to  black  sticky  prairie. 

It  has  not  required  any  great  skill  in  guessing  to  surmise  that  these 
rocks,  these  huge  boulders  and  the  great  quantities  of  sand,  were  not 


24  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

"made"  in  North  Dakota,  that  is,  that  they  did  not  in  the  first  place 
belong  here,  but  have  been  brought  here  by  some  means  from  some- 
where else.  These  rocks  are  not  like  any  of  the  rocks  in  the  quarries 
of  the  State,  and  then  too  these  boulders,  pebbles  and  gravel,  and  even 
the  sand  grains  are  all  rounded  more  or  less,  while  the  rocks  from  our 
quarries  or  from  ledges  along  the  streams  where  the  bed-rock  comes 
to  the  surface,  are  all  rough  and  angular.  To  explain  how  these  things 
have  come  about  a  geological  story  will  have  to>  be  told,  a  little  frag- 
ment of  the  earth's  history,  of  the  manner  in  which  a  great  change  took 
place  over  a  large  part  of  North  America,  and  which  includes  most 
of  the  State  of  North  Dakota,  all  of  that  part  in  fact  which  lies  east 
of  the  Missouri  River.  A  part  of  this  story  will  be  told  in  the  next 
few  chapters. 

An  Excursion  to  Some  Quarries. — Just  as  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  see, 
feel,  smell,  taste  and  hear  in  order  to  think  about  an  object,  so  it  is 
necessary  for  us  to  see,  handle,  break,  dig  and  walk  over  the  fields, 
rocks,  soils,  hills  and  valleys  in  order  to  understand  the  geography  of 
our  own  neighborhood  or  State.  But  all  parts  of  our  State  are  like  all 
other  parts  in  many  respects,  and  what  is  true  of  North  Dakota  is  in  a 
large  measure  true  of  other  states,  and  other  countries.  Since  we  can- 
not all  visit  all  parts  of  our  own  State,  and  still  fewer  can  visit  all  the 
states  or  all  the  countries,  let  us  first  study  our  own  neighborhood,  and 
then  from  this  we  may  be  able  to  understand  the  parts  we  cannot  visit 
from  what  those  say  who  have  seen  parts  we  have  not  seen.  He  is  a 
good  scientist  who  understands  thoroughly  his  own  neighborhood. 
Let  us  then  go  out  and  pick  up  a  basket  full  of  stones  from  the  fields 
and  roadsides.  Let  them  be  collected  from  all  parts  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  let  big  and  little  and  all  kinds  be  gathered.  If  there  is  a 
patch  of  boulders  in  the  neighborhood  which  are  too  large  to  be  moved 
look  carefully  at  them  where  they  are.  In  the  collection  which  we 
have  made  we  have  perhaps  one  hundred,  maybe  two  or  three  hundred, 
"specimens,"  yes  specimens,  for  each  one  of  these  humble  stones  has 
its  own  story  to  tell,  and  strange  as  it  may  seem  scarcely  any  two  of 
them  will  tell  the  same  story.  Can  you  find  two  which  are  exactly 
alike  in  shape  or  size?  Or,  what  is  more  wonderful,  can  you  find  two 
in  the  whole  collection  which  seem  to  be,  when  broken,  exactly  the 
same  kind  of  stone?  If  we  have  two  or  three  hundred  specimens  gath- 
ered from  about  the  neighborhood,  very  likely  if  you  try  to  sort  them, 
placing  them  in  piles  so  as  to  have  each  kind  by  itself,  meaning  by 


EXCURSIONS  AFIELD.  25 

kind  those  which  are  exactly  alike,  we  shall  have  a  hundred  or  more 
piles! 

Now  if  you  have  ever  been  in  a  stone  quarry  you  have  probably 
noticed  that  the  stones  which  were  being  taken  out  by  the  workmen 
vere  all  very  much  alike.  If  the  ledge  in  which  the  quarry  is  located 
ii  deep,  if  the  wall  of  rocks  is  high  and  you  see  many  layers  in  order 
you  may  have  noticed  that  they  are  not  all  alike,  but  if  you  look 
at  different  parts  of  the  same  layer,  following  it  from  one  part  of  the 
qiurry  to  another,  you  notice  it  is  the  same  all  along.  The  different 
lay<rs  may  also  be  very  much  alike.  You  see  no  such  differences  in 
these  layers,  or  strata  as  they  are  called,  as  you  saw  in  the  collection 
you  nade  from  the  fields.  If  you  have  been  in  a  quarry  in  Minnesota 
or  \\isconsin  or  Iowa  it  may  have  been  a  limestone  quarry  you  saw. 
Amorg  the  specimens  you  collected  there  are  probably  several  lime- 
stone \oulders.  These  you  will  observe  are  different  in  shape  from  the 
quarry  blocks.  The  boulders  are  all  rounded  and  smooth,  while  those 
freshly  Iroken  from  the  ledges  are  sharply  angular. 

If  yoi  have  been  in  eastern  South  Dakota  may  be  you  have  seen 
the  hard  -eddish  building  stone  which  is  taken  from  the  extensive  quar- 
ries alongthe  Big  Sioux  River  This  rock  is  of  quartzite,  the  same  min- 
eral as  hasbeen  spoken  of  as  making  some  of  the  "hard-head"  boulders. 
This  particular  region  of  South  Dakota  has  no  other  rocks  in  the  quar- 
ries. It  is  cnown  as  Sioux  quartzite  and  is  famous  as  a  building  stone. 
The  city  ofSioux  Falls  gets  its  name  from  its  location  near  where  the 
Big  Sioux  Rver  crosses  an  outcropping  of  this  rock. 

Stone  queries  are  very  scarce  in  North  Dakota,  for  reasons  which 
we  shall  see  a^ittle  later.  Let  us  look  again  to  our  sister  state  of  Min- 
nesota. At  K\sota,  near  Mankato,  are  large  quarries  where  the  splen- 
did reddish-bnxvn  sandstone  is  obtained  which  is  used  for  trimming 
the  best  brick  Wildings  in  many  towns  and  cities.  The  bed-rock  at 
Kasota  is  of  tm  one  kind  of  sandstone.  But  around  about  on  the 
surface,  in  the  fiilds  and  by  the  roadsides,  are  boulders  such  as  these 
we  have  gathered^rom  the  fields  and  roadsides  of  our  own  State.  So 
also  about  Sioux  \alls,  are  boulders  in  the  fields  and  along  the  road- 
sides, but  in  the  queries  there  is  only  the  one  kind  of  rock,  quartzite. 

Now  if  we  coulAdig  down  deep  enough  in  our  own  State  we  should 
by  and  by  come  to  \ed-rock.  In  some  parts  of  the  State  we  should 
find  this  to  be  limest\ne,  in  other  parts  sandstone,  and  in  others  shale. 
The  sandstone  wouldV  different  from  that  at  Kasota,  however.  If 


26  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

we  should  go  north  into  Canada,  away  to  Hudson's  Bay,  for  instance, 
or  about  Lake  Superior,  we  should  find  the  bed-rock  to  be  like  some 
of  the  boulders  we  have  in  our  collection.  In  some  places  we  should 
find  granite,  in  other  places  quartzite,  and  hornblendes,  and  augites 
So  similar  are  the  bed-rocks  in  those  localities  to  the  pieces  or  bou- 
ders  which  we  have  collected  here,  and  so  much  do  the  scattered  boul- 
ders look  as  if  they  had  come  from  some  other  place,  that  we  almost 
begin  to  wonder  if  in  some  way  our  boulders  did  not  come  from  about 
the  Hudson  Bay  or  Lake  Superior  country.  In  a  later  chapter  we 
shall  see  that  there  is  reason  for  thinking  that  many  of  our  boulders  and 
a  large  amount  of  finer  materials  have  really  been  brought  from  these 
far-off  regions.  All  the  boulders,  pebbles  and  sand-grains  of  our  prai- 
ries and  fields  have  come  from  other  places  where  the  bed-rock  is  the 
same  kind  of  rock  as  these  boulders.  In  other  words  these  boulders 
are  pieces  broken  off  from  the  layers  or  strata  of  the  bed-rocl  where 
these  come  to,  or  near  to,  the  surface.  They  are  fragments  whch  have 
been  broken  from  many  different  quarries  in  many  different  plices,  and 
carried  sometimes  hundreds  of  miles  to  where  we  find  then  in  the 
fields.  Some  of  the  pieces  were  very  large  and  heavy  .vhen  first 
broken.  In  the  process  of  moving  they  have  become  a  good  deal 
broken,  big  blocks  being  broken  up  into  small  pieces,  the  corners  worn 
off,  and  the  whole  surface  made  smooth. 

When  a  large  rock  is  broken  into  smaller  blocks  then  are  always 
some  small  fragments  formed,  and  when  a  corner  gets  knocked  off 
from  a  rock  by  striking  against  another  rock  more  smll  fragments 
are  broken  .off.  The  only  difference  between  boulders  tnd  sand  is  in 
the  size  of  the  fragments.  A  boulder  may  be  broken  into  several 
smaller  boulders,  and  these  may  be  again  broken  ino  pebbles,  and 
these  in  turn  are  only  larger  grains  of  sand.  They  z\  get  smoothed 
and  rounded  by  being  jostled  and  rubbed  against  each  other  and 
against  other  hard  things  which  are  in  their  way,  or  which  are  moved 
against  them.  Indeed  soil  and  the  clays  of  the  ftlds  and  hills  are 
mostly  ground-up  rock.  The  softer  boulders  are  rore  easily  worn  to 
powder  and  broken.  The  boulders,  the  larger  or^s,  those  which  are 
well  rounded  and  smoothed,  and  which  have  been  .'Uite  correctly  called 
"hard-heads,"  are  the  harder  masses  which  hav  been  broken  loose 
from  the  bed-rock  somewhere  and  by  reason  c  their  being  so  hard 
have  not  been  worn  out  and  made  into  soil.  If  you  examine  the 
grains  of  a  handful  of  sand  from  a  sand-pit  yovwill  find  it  to  be  made 


EXCURSIONS  AFIELD.  27 

up  of  hard  particles  of  stone.  The  grains  will  be  largely  quartz  grains, 
and  bits  of  feldspar  and  other  hard  minerals.  You  will  generally  find 
but  few  grains  of  mica  or  limestone  because  these  are  softer  and  more 
easily  ground  to  powder.  These  have  been  ground  into  earth  and 
clay.  Nearly  all  the  sand  patches  or  sandpits,  like  the  sands  of  the. 
sea-shore,  are  whitish,  and  this  is  because  it  is  largely  grains  of  hard 
diitish  quartz. 

Because  the  boulders,  sand  and  clay  of  our  fields  have  come  from 
somewhere  else,  have  drifted  here  from  other  regions,  this  material  is 
called  "Drift,"  and  the  boulders  are  often  spoken  of  as  "foreign"  boul- 
ders or  drift  rocks  to  distinguish  them  from  the  rocks  which  have 
come  from  our  own  quarries  or  from  the  bed-rock  near  where  the  pieces 
are  found. 

All  of  North  pakota  except  that  part  of  the  State  which  lies  west 
of  the  Missouri  River  is  covered  with  a  great  sheet  or  mantle  of  "drift." 
In  some  parts  of  the  State  this  covering  of  drift  is  very  deep,  being  more 
than  300  feet  in  some  places  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  It  becomes 
thinner  toward  the  west  till  along  the  Missouri  River  it  is  only  a  few  feet 
thick  and  further  west  disappears  entirely. 

The  black  soil  of  our  fields  does  not  extend  down  very  far,  as  you 
have  likely  noticed.  But  if  you  have  watched  the  digging  of  a  deep 
well  or  a  place  where  any  deep  excavation  was  being  made,  you  have 
seen  that  clay  and  boulders  occur  down  to  a  much  greater  depth,  and 
probably  no  shelf  or  layer  of  rock  was  struck  such  as  you  saw  in  the 
quarries. 

All  these  materials,  these  many  millions  of  tons  of  clay,  boulders, 
sand,  and  gravel  and  most  bf  the  soil  also,  which  cover  nearly  the 
whole  State,  are  drift,  and  the  time  during  which  this  vast  amount  of 
work  was  being  done  is  known  as  the  "Drift  Period,"  or  Glacial  Period. 
It  was  the  last  great  geologic  period  before  that  in  which  man  lives,  the 
period  of  written  history. 

\Ye  shall,  in  the  next  few  pages,  try  to  see  how  the  boulders,  peb- 
bles, sand,  and  clay  were  carried  and  how  they  come  to  be  left  as 
they  are. 


CHAPTER   THE   THIRD. 

THE  WORK  OF  ICE. 

The  Great  Ice  Sheet.— All  of  North  Dakota  east  of  the  Missouri 
River  is  embraced  in  that  part  of  North  America  which  was  covered 
by  the  ice  during  the  Glacial  Period.  We  have  wondered  how  the 
boulders  and  rounded  pebbles  came  to  be  here,  scattered  all  about  as 
they  are,  when  they  are  so  different  from  the  bed-rocks  and  also  so 
different  from  each  other.  Geologists  agree  that  ice  was  the  agent 
which  transported  these  rocks  here;  that  it  was  by  the  action  of  the  ice 
that  the  rock  fragments  were  first  broken  from  their  parent  ledges  and 
carried,  smoothed,  broken,  and  ground  to  powder;  that  the  way  the 
boulders,  gravel  and  sand  are  distributed  is  due  to  the  ice  melting  and 
leaving  the  rocks  which  it  carried;  and  the  peculiar  hills  and  rolling 
prairies  which  mark  the  landscape  have  been  formed  by  the  dumping  of 
these  transported  materials  from  the  great  ice-plow. 

All  the  northern  portion  of  North  America  was  covered  by  this 
great  flood  of  ice.  In  all  the  northern  states  from  North  Dakota  to 
Maine  and  the  Atlantic  Coast  about  New  York  City  occur  boulders, 
sand  and  clay,  and  peculiar  rounded  hills  such  as  are  seen  between 
Larimore  and  Devils  Lake,  along  the  line  of  the  Great  Northern  Rail- 
way, about  Cooper stown  in  Griggs  County,  west  of  Hope  in  Steele 
County,,  at  intervals  along  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway 
from  east  of  Valley  City  to  Bismarck,  east  of  Lisbon  in  Ransom  County, 
about  Oakes  in  Dickey  County,  and,  in  fact,  here  and  there  through- 
out the  whole  State  west  of  the  eastern  tier  of  counties  and  east  of  the 
Missouri  River,  occur  irregular  generally  rounded  hills,  and  valleys 
without  outlets.  These  are  hills  which  mark  positions  where  the  edge 
of  the  great  ice-sheet  stood  for  a  time,  and,  melting,  left  the  mate- 
rials of  which  these  hills  are  composed.  Wherever  such  hills  are  seen 
the  country  has  been  "glaciated." 

The  ice-sheet  was  a  good  deal  deeper  or  thicker  in  some  places  than 
in  others.  WTe  shall  get  the  right  idea  if  we  think  of  the  great  flood  of 
ice  slowly  flowing  or  shoving  its  way  across  the  country,  covering  the 


THE   WORK   OF   ICE. 


\ 


SO  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

hills  and  filling  the  valleys,  planing  off  the  hill-tops  and  filling  the  val- 
leys with  the  materials  of  the  hills.  It  may  seem  a  little  strange  to 
think  of  ice  flowing  over  the  land,  but  there  are  a  great  many  strange 
things  in  the  world  and  we  should  not  refuse  to  study  them  because 
they  .are  strange.  In  another  chapter  we  shall  try  to  see  some  of  the 
reasons  which  have  led  geologists  to  think  that  it  was  a  great  ice-flood, 
a  vast  sheet  of  snow-ice  slowly  creeping  or  flowing  from  the  northeast 
toward  the  southwest  which  has  caused  all  these  strange  things.  We 
must  try  to  be  fair  and  honest  in  a  study  of  this  kind  and  not  refuse  to 
think  about  things  because  we  cannot  at  first  understand  them,  or  can- 
not see  how  such  things  can  be. 

No  one  claims  that  we  know  these  to  be  the  facts  absolutely.  No 
man  was  on  the  earth  at  this  time  to  write  a  history  of  what  occurred; 
or  if  there  were  any  men  then  at  least  they  did  not  write  any  history 
which  we  know  about.  All  that  we  can  tell  about  what  occurred  is  by 
studying  the  records  left  in  the  rocks  and  clays  and  gravels,  and  the 
peculiar  hills  and  valleys.  The  collection  of  boulders,  pebbles  and  sand,' 
the  clay  dug  up  from  below  the  fertile  soil,  the  hills  and  hollows  themr 
selves  which  we  walked  over  and  through,  and  the  rocks  we  studied  in 
the  field,  all  enter  into  the  great  subject  of  the  history  of  this  period 
of  the  earth's  changes. 

Without  trying  at  this  time  to  explain  the  causes  of  the  extreme 
cold  which  made  such  a  gathering  of  snow  and  ice  possible,  let  us  see 
what  the  physicist  says,  the  man  who  has  studied  the  action  of  ice 
and  snow  and  water,  and  other  substances  under  various 
conditions,  about  the  behavior  of  ice  in  very  large  masses.  Then  we 
may  afterwards  seek  what  reasons  or  evidences  there  are  for  thinking 
that  ice  was  the  agent  which  did  all  this  work;  or  that  what  has  been 
called  an  "ice-invasion"  has  really  at  some  time  occurred. 

Behavior  of  Ice  Under  Pressure.— We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  ice 
as  a  brittle  substance;  and  we  know  that  when  struck  a  sharp  blow  with 
a  hard  instrument  it  will  break  into  pieces.  But  it  can  be  shown  in  a 
laboratory  where  all  things  needed  are  at  hand,  or  in  great  glaciers 
where  the  mass  of  ice  is  very  great,  that  when  ice  is  placed  under  great 
pressure  and  acted  upon  slowly  and  steadily  for  a  long  time  it  not  only 
does  not  break  into  pieces  as  a  brittle  solid  but  actually  flows  very 
much  as  a  mass  of  resin  or  cold,  thick  pitch  will  flow  if  it  is  given  time, 
bulging  out  on  all  sides  from  the  pressure  of  its  own  weight. 

To  get  some  idea  of  the  way  the  ice  will  act  let  us  use  some  figures. 


THE   WORK  OF  ICE.  31 

A  cubic  foot  of  ice  weighs  about  62.25  pounds.  If  we  imagine  two 
blocks  of  this  size  placed  one  upon  the  other,  the  bottom  one  will  hold 
up  a  weight  of  62.25  pounds.  If  ten  blocks  are  piled  up  on  top  of  the 
first  one  then  the  bottom  one  will  be  holding  up  622.5  pounds.  If  we 
imagine  the  blocks  to  be  piled  up  as  high  as  the  highest  grain  elevator, 
say  zoo  feet  high,  then  the  pressure  upon  the  bottom  due  to  the  weight 
of  the  ice  blocks  would  be  6,225  pounds,  or  more  than  three  tons. 
Imagine  the  whole  weight  of  a  load  of  a  hundred  bushels  of  wheat 
to  rest  upon  one  such  block  of  ice.  It  would  be  crushed,  would  it  not? 
Now,  suppose  that  the  whole  landscape  round  about  were  covered 
with  ice  to  a  thickness  of  100  feet.  Each  square  foot  of  land  might  be 
thought  of  as  having  a  pile  of  one  hundred  foot-cubes  of  ice  resting 
upon  it.  Each  bottom  cube  would  be  prevented  from  crushing  the  way 
the  load  of  wheat  was  imagined  to  crush  a  single  block  because  there 
would  be  more  blocks  all  around  it  and  each  one  trying  just  as  hard 
to  crush.  The  lower  layer  of  ice  would  therefore  be  under  a  great 
stress. 

Now,  in  parts  of  the  country  where  there  are  high  mountains,  as  the 
White  Mountains  in  the  state  of  New  Hampshire,  drift  boulders  and 
pebbles  on  the  tops  of  these  mountains  show  that  the  ice  covered  their 
tops,  or,  in  other  words,  the  thickness  of  the  ice  was  so  great  that  the 
high  mountains  were  buried.  Some  of  those  mountains  which  were 
so  covered  are  more  than  a  mile  high,  that  is,  their  summits  are  more 
than  a  mile  vertically  above  their  bases,  and  drift  boulders  and  gravel 
are  found  •  upon  their  sides  and  up  to  their  very  summits.  The  ice 
must  therefore  have  been  more  than  a  mile  deep  in  those  regions. 
Many  careful  observations  have  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ice  was 
in  some  places  two  or  more  miles  deep.  What,  then,  must  have  been 
the  pressure  upon  the  bottom  layers  due  to  the  weight  of  the  ice?  One 
mile  is  5,280  feet.  The  pressure  upon  the  bottom  of  each  square  foot, 
therefore,  must  be  5,280  times  62.25  pounds,  or  328,680  pounds,  or 
nearly  165  tons.  Since  the  ice  cannot  crush,  being  hemmed  in  on  all 
sides  by  more  ice  under  just  the  same  pressure,  the  stress  upon  the 
bottom  layers  will  be  very  great.  Under  these  conditions  of  great 
pressure  ice  behaves  like  a  thick,  viscous  substance,  such  as  pitch  or 
thick  tar. 

An  Illustration. — Let  us  imagine  a  large  cask  or  barrel  filled  with 
hard  pitch.  It  appears  solid,  and  if  a  piece  of  it  is  struck  a  sharp  blow 
it  will  break  much  like  a  brittle  rock  or  a  piece  of  ice.  Suppose  we 


32  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

should  knock  the  barrel  to>  pieces  and  leave  the  pitch  standing  in  a 
great  block.  It  will  have  the  form  of  the  inside  of  the  barrel.  But  let 
it  stand  for  some  time,  say  a  week  or  a  month,  and  it  will  be  seen  to 
have  bulged  out  at  the  sides  near  the  bottom.  Leave  it  longer.  The 
mass  no  longer  has  the  form  of  the  inside  of  the  barrel.  It  is  flattening 
down  and  broadening  out  at  the  base.  Leave  it  for  a  still  longer  time, 
for  a  year  maybe,  or  even  two  years,  and  it  will  have  flattened  out  so 
that  no  one  would  ever  think  that  it  had  once  had  the  form  of  the  inside 
of  a  cask  or  barrel. 

Now,  suppose  such  a  block  of  pitch  is  left  to  stand  on  a  level  floor. 
It  would  flatten  out  and  flow  over  the  floor  from  the  pressure  due  to 
its  own  weight.  If  there  were  some  marbles  or  small  stones  lying  upon 
the  floor  scattered  about  or  in  little  heaps,  the  pitch  would  flow  over 


these  and  shove  them  along  with  itself.  If  the  block  of  pitch  were  on 
the  cellar  bottom  where  there  were  small  hollows  it  would  fill  these  and 
push  on  over  them.  If  there  were  small  gravel  stones  in  these  hollows 
some  of  these  would  be  shoved  along  up  out  of  the  hollows  and  pushed 
over  the  uneven  surface. 

If  we  now  can  imagine  the  pitch  to  disappear  by  some  means  with- 
out disturbing  the  pebbles  it  has  moved  over  the  cellar  bottom,  we 
should  find  these  pebbles  to  have  been  shoved  into  a  somewhat  irregu- 
lar row  near  where  the  edge  of  the  spreading  pitch  had  been. 

In  much  the  same  way  the  ice  flo\ved  across  the  continent,  filling 
the  valleys  and  crossing  the  hills  as  the  pitch  flowed  over  the  cellar 
bottom  and  filled  and  crossed  the  hollows  and  hummocks.  The  great 
pressure  from  the  accumulation  of  snow  in  the  interior  of  the  continent 
caused  the  outward  flow.  In  the  interior  of  the  continent  the  ice 
melted  on  the  land  when  it  had  flowed  southward  into  the  warmer 


THE   WORK   OF   ICE.  33 

climate  of  lower  latitudes.  Off  the  coast  of  New  England  the  edge  of 
the  great  ice-sheet  pushed  off  into  the  sea.  In  the  latter  case  the  rock- 
fragments  carried  by  the  ice  were  thrust  off  into  the  sea.  But  in  the 
former  case,  where  the  ice  melted  on  the  land,  the  broken  rock,  some 
of  which  had  been  ground  to  fine  powder  forming  clay,  and  the  small 
fragments  in  the  form  of  gravel  and  sand,  together  with  the  large  boul- 
ders, were  left  where  the  melting  ice  dropped  them. 

Alpine  Glaciers. — Ice  can  be  seen  flowing  down  mountain  sides  at 
the  present  time  in  many  countries,  in  Switzerland,  Norway,  Green- 
land, Alaska  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  our  own  country.  Ice- 
streams  flowing  down  the  slopes  of  mountains  are  called  Alpine  Gla- 
ciers, from  the  Alps  Mountains  in  Switzerland,  where  there  are  splendid 
examples  of  glaciers  in  action,  and  because  it  was  there  that  the  flow 
of  ice  in  glaciers  was  first  studied. 

If  you  have  been  on  the  top  of  Pike's  Peak,  or  through  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park,  in  the  hottest  months  of  summer  you  have  seen 
great  patches  of  snow  here  and  there  among  the  crags  and  pinnacles, 
above  what  is  known  as  the  "snow-line."  Where  there  are  high  moun- 
tains with  their  crests  reaching  far  above  the  snow-line  the  summers 
are  not  warm  enough  to  cause  all  the  snow  to  melt,  and  so  it  continues 
to  gather  in  the  hollows  high  among  the  clouds  and  craggy  peaks. 

When,  on  the  mountain  tops,  enough  snow  gathers  so  that  its  weight 
becomes  very  great  the  lower  layers  become  more  like  ice  than  snow 
because  of  the  pressure  from  the  mass  overlying.  And  if  the  amount 
of  snow  becomes  very  great  it  will  by  and- by  begin  to  move  slowly 
down  the  mountain. 

The  snow  does  not  need  to  gather  upon  a  mountain  slope  in  order 
to  flow.  We  saw7  that  stiff,  hard  pitch  flowed  across  a  level  surface  by 
reason  of  its  own  weight.  The  place  of  starting  of  glaciers  is  often 
high  on  mountain  tops  where  it  is  too  cold  even  in  mid-summer  for 
all  the  snow  to  melt.  But  a  glacier  may  be  formed  upon  a  level  sur- 
face, the  conditions  which  cause  a  glacier  being  that  more  snow  shall 
fall  during  the  winter  than  melts  during  the  summer. 

When  either  high  upon  mountain  tops  or  on  a  plain,  therefore, 
more  -snow  falls  than  melts,  so  that  it  gathers  deeper  and  deeper  and 
piles  up  higher  and  higher;  after  a  while  the  snow  which  is  near  the 
bottom  becomes  pressed  so  hard  by  the  weight  of  that  which  lies  above 
it  that  it  changes  its  form  from  flaky  snow  into  a  sort  of  snow-ice 
known  as  neve,  and  when  the  pressure  has  become  great  enough  it  will 


34 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


begin  to  flow  out  at  the  sides  or  edges  of  the  snow-field  and  push  down 
the  mountain  side,  or  out  over  the  plain. 

Moraines. — Stones  and  various  fragments  of  earth  are  carried  down 
by  Alpine  glaciers,  and  as  the  ice  melts  when  it  gets  down  into  the 
valleys,  or  down  the  mountain  sides  where  it  is  warmer,  it  leaves  the 
stone-fragments  which  have  been  carried  or  pushed  along.  These 
materials  are  left  in  irregular  heaps  and  piles,  and  are  known  as  Mo- 
raines, from  a  French  word  meaning  "a  heap  of  stones." 

Those  rounded  hills  and  long,  irregular  ridges  which  we  have  no- 


FlG.  ii.    View  Along  the  Top  of  a  Terminal  Moraine.    Western  Walsh  County. 
Photograph  by  Ray  Abel. 

ticed  west  of  Larimore  and  Hope,  about  Cooperstown,  Valley  City  and 
Oakes,  are  morainic  hills,  and  the  whole  group  of  hills  to  which  they 
belong,  in  each  locality,  is  a  Moraine.  They  were  left  where  they  are 
by  the  melting  of  the  ice  of  the  great  continental  ice-sheet,  just  as  the 
smaller  heaps  and  irregular  piles  of  broken  stone  and  earth,  left  by  the 
melting  of  the  glaciers  on  the  mountain  sides  of  Switzerland,  or  on  the 
west  coast  of  Greenland,  are  Moraines. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  Moraines,  or,  rather,  several  forms  in 
which  "heaps  of  stones"  or  earth  are  deposited  by  the  -melting  ice.  At 
the  lower  edge  of  the  ice,  where  the  melting  back  is  just  about  equal 


THE  WORK   OF   ICE.  35 

to  the  pushing  down,  so  that  the  glacier  end  seems  to  stand  still,  will 
be  a  great  gathering  place  of  broken  stones,  earth  and  soil  which  were 
carried  down  by  the  ice.  These  will  be  dumped  in  heaps  and  irregular 
ridges.  Small  fragments  of  rock,  sand,  cl^y  and  soil  from  the  land- 
surface  will  all  be  piled  together  in  great  confusion.  Hollows  will  be 
between  these  knolls  and  ridges,  small  and  large,  round  and  irregular, 
deep  and  shallow,  and  some  of  them  will  be  filled  with  water  from  the 
melting  ice. 

This  whole  affair — the  heaps  and  piles  of  earth  and  broken  rock, 
the  irregular  ridges,  the  hollows  and  lakes — majces  up  what  is  called  a 
Terminal  Moraine.  It  is  called  terminal  because  it  is  at  the  terminus 
or  end  of  the  glacier. 

On  the  sides  of  glaciers  rock  and  soil  gather  from  the  grinding  of 
the  ice  against  the  hillsides  along  \vhich  it  passes,  and  from  crags  falling 
upon  the  edge  of  the  moving  ice.  Often  these  materials  form  long 
ridges  or  piles  which  extend  for  long  distances  along  the  edge  of  the 
ice-stream.  These  are  sometimes  upon  the  ice  and  being  carried  along 
with  it,  and  sometimes  they  occur  as  ridges  skirting  the  edge  of  the 
ice  but  upon  the  ground.  Such  a  line  of  broken  rock  and  soil  is  a  Lat- 
eral Moraine,  so  named  because  formed  on  the  side  of  the  glacier.  If 
the  glacier  melts  away  entirely  these  long  side-ridges  are  left  upon  the 
sides  of  the  valley  down  which  the  glacier  moved.  They  are  side 
moraines,  therefore,  in  just  the  same  way  that  terminal  moraines  are 
end  moraines. 

It  frequently  happens  in  mountains  where  glaciers  exist  that  two  or 
more  smaller  streams  of  snow-ice  from  higher  up  the  mountain  run 
together  lower  down  and  form  one  larger  ice-stream,  just  as  the 
branches  or  tributaries  of  a  river  run  together  to  form  a  larger  river. 
On  the  sides  of  each  of  these  branch  or  tributary  glaciers  there  are 
lateral  moraines.  When,  therefore,  two  such  streams  come  together 
two  lateral  moraines  will  meet,  like  the  two  parts  of  a  letter  V,  and 
below  the  point  of  meeting  the  two  ridges  will  become  one,  and  this 
will  continue  down  the  course  of  the  larger  stream,  but  in  the  midst  of 
it  and  not  at  the  side  or  edge.  The  two  lateral  moraines  which  unite 
form  a  single  ridge  like  the  stem  of  the  letter  Y,  and  this  is  known  as 
a  Medial  Moraine,  because  it  is  carried  on  the  middle  of  the  glacier. 

Sometimes  a  glacier  moves  farther  down  a  mountain  valley  than  at 
other  times.  We  have  seen  how  a  terminal  moraine  is  formed  at  the 
end  of  a  glacier.  If  now  the  ice  should  melt  back  for  some  time  faster 


36  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

than  it  moved  down  the  slope  then  the  belt  of  terminal  moraine  ridges, 
heaps  and  hollows,  and  maybe  lakes,  would  be  left  below  the  glacier.  If 
then  the  glacier  should  advance,  or  move  down  more  rapidly  than  it 
melted  at  its  lower  end,  tht  ridges,  heaps  and  hollows  would  be  ridden 
over  and  shoved  farther  down  the  slope.  Along  the  bottom  of  the 
glacier,  on  the  ground  which  the  ice-stream  passes  over,  pieces  of  rock 
which  are  broken  off  from  projecting  crags,  loose  fragments  of  stone 
lying  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  soil,  would  be  shoved  along 
and  ground  under  or  near  the  bottom  of  the  ice.  This  material,  to- 
gether with  that  of  the  terminal  moraine  which  is  pushed  along  and 
over  by  the  advancing  ice  will  be  shoved  into  hollows  and  ground  to 
powder  on  the  hard  bottom.  When  the  glacier  melts  back  and  un- 
covers this  material,  or  when  the  glacier  disappears  altogether,  as  many 
glaciers  have  done,  this  will  be  left  as  a  Ground  Moraine. 

There  are  thus  seen  to  be  four  kinds  or  forms  of  moraines,  Ter- 
minal, Lateral,  Medial  and  Ground.  These  are  not  always  sharply  sep- 
arated from  each  other.  It  is  not  easy  sometimes  to  see  just  where  one 
begins  and  another  ends.  All  these  forms  of  deposits  from  glaciers  are 
of  interest  to  us  because  they  all  occur  on  a  very  large  and  grand  scale, 
making  conspicuous  landscape  features  in  North  Dakota,  and  all  the 
Northern  States  and  Canada.  Various  forms  and  modifications  of  these 
make  up  many,  indeed,  most  of  the  hills  and  swells  of  the  prairies  of 
our  State. 


CHAPTER  THE  FOURTH. 


AN   EXCURSION  TO  SOME  GLACIERS. 

Illustrations  from  Norway. — Norway  furnishes  many  good  examples 
of  alpine  glaciers,  and  much  may  be  learned  about  the  hills  and  prairies 
of  our  own  State  by  studying  the  behavior  of  glaciers  as  they  exist 
to-day.  We  cannot  all  go  to  Norway,  or  to  Switzerland,  or  even  to 
the  snow-capped  mountains  in  our  own  country  where  glaciers  flow 
down  their  sides.  Since  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  see  the  actual 
glaciers,  let  us  see  how  much  we  can  learn  from  pictures. 

In  Figure  12  the  barren  and  lofty  peaks  of  the  Jotenheimen  Moun- 
tains in  Norway  are  shown.  Here  is  the  gathering-ground  of  the  snow 
which  descends  the  mountain  sides  as  glaciers.  This  is  said  to  be  the 
wildest  and  most  bleak  and  dreary  tract  in  all  Norway.  Here  the 
mountain  tops  are  rock,  naked  of  any  vegetation,  and  covered  in  some 
places  the  whole  year  with  ice  and  snow.  Standing  on  the  high,  cold, 
bleak  landscape,  nothing  but  crags,  snow,  ice  and  lakes  formed  from 
melting  snow  can  be  seen  for  long  distances.  The  water  from  the 


12.    The  Snow-field  on  ihe  Mountain  Top. 
Photograph  bv  A.  Thorson. 


76025 


33 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


melting  of  the  snows  of  this  region  in  part  goes  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
on  the  west  coast  of  Norway,  and  in  part  south  by  the  River  Glommen 
past  Christiania  to  the  Skager  Rack.  The  distance  shown  in  the  pic- 
ture, from  the  foreground  to  the  high  crags  in  the  background,  is  about 
ten  miles.  The  highest  of  the  crags  in  this  group  are  the  loftiest  peaks 
in  Norway.  A  glacier  flows  down  the  mountain  side  to  the  right  from 
the  snow-field  shown  in  the  foreground.  Another  large  glacier  de- 


nd  Terminal  Moraines.    Photograph  by  A.  Thorson. 


scends  to  the  left  from  the  snow-field  among  the  crags  in  the  back- 
ground. The  waters  from  the  melting  of  this  glacier  are  the  head- 
waters of  the  largest  river  in  Norway,  the  River  Glommen. 

Figure  13  shows  an  ice-stream  or  glacier  as  it  moves  slowly  down 
the  side  of  the  mountain.  In  the  foreground  is  shown  the  dumping- 
ground  of  the  materials  carried  by  the  ice,  the  terminal  moraine  of  the 
glacier.  It  is  a  belt  and  not  a  simple  ridge.  The  distance  across  this 
belt  of  ridges,  heaps  and  irregular  mounds  of  boulders  or  rock-frag- 
ments, gravel,  sand  and  earth,  is  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile,  from 


AN   EXCURSION   TO   SOME   GLACIERS. 


39 


the  extreme  foreground  of  the  picture  to  the  edge  of  the  ice.  Six 
rnorainic  ridges  can  be  seen,  counting  the  one  at  the  extreme  front  on 
which  the  top  of  a  small  tree  appears. 

Then  conies  a  broad,  low  moraine  with  gravel  and  coarse  pieces  of 
rock,  the  large  fragments  of  rock  showing  dark  in  the  picture.  Two 
or  three  huge  masses  stand  above  the  general  surface — immense  blocks 
broken  from  the  mountain  side,  shoved  down  with  the  ice  and  dropped 
here  where  the  ice  melted.  The  light  belt  behind  these  is  the  crooked 
stream  of  ice-water  which  flows  from  under  the  glacier. 

Next  are  two  large,  ragged,  dark-appearing  ridges  which  are  cov- 
ered with  scattering,  scrubby  trees.  The  stream  from  under  the  ice 
comes  from  the  right  in  the  picture  from  between  these  two  ridges  and 
turns  sharply  back  toward  the  right. 

Farthest  over  and  near  the  ice-front  is  another  ridge.  Still  another 
which  cannot  be  seen  lies  back  of  this,  between  it  and  the  ice-wall.  All 
these  ridges,  all  the  sand,  gravel  and  boulders,  make  up  the  terminal 
moraine.  Sometimes  a  single  ridge  is  spoken  of  as  a  moraine,  but  the 
term  is  correctly  applied  to  all  the  ridges  and  piles  which  together  make 
up  the  dumping-ground  of  a  glacier  at  any  period  of  its  existence. 


FIG.  14.     An  Ice  Cave.      Photograph  by  A.  Thorson. 


40 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIEg. 


If  the  glacier  has  at  some  time  extended  considerably  farther 
down  the  mountain  side  and  left  a  moraine  there,  and  this  older 
moraine  is  separated  from  the  later  or  the  one  forming  now  by  a  tract 
which  is  comparatively  free  from  boulders  and  piles  of  gravel  and  earth, 
then  these  are  often  spoken  of  as  the  older  and  the  younger  moraines. 
They  represent  stages  of  advance  and  retreat  of  the  glacier. 


FIG.  15.     An  Ice  Cascade.     Photograph  e>y  A.  Thorson. 

Back  of  the  dark-appearing  terminal  moraine  ridge  in  the  left  of 
the  picture  is  a  lateral  moraine,  marked  v  v.  This  is  a  sharp-crested 
ridge  of  broken  stones,  earth  and  debris  from  the  mountain  side.  At 
the  places  marked  v  along  the  side  of  the  glacier  are  ridges  and  heaps 
of  earth  and  stones  thirty  feet  high,  which  belong  to  the  lateral  moraine 
of  the  glacier,  and  are  still  being  carried  along  with  the  ice.  Dark 
patches  along  the  side  of  the  ice  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  side  and 
extending  up  the  glacier  are  also  heaps  of  earth  and  stones  belonging 
to  the  lateral  moraine. 

Figure  14  shows  a  near  view  of  a  small  part  of  the  same  ice-front 
which  was  seen  from  a  distance  in  Figure  13.  A  great  cave  is  hollowed 


AN   EXCURSION   TO   SOME    GLACIERS'. 


41 


out  in  the  ice-Wall,  out  of  which  flows  the  sub-glacial  or  under-the-ice 
stream  shown  in  Figure  13.  The  ice  is  clean,  blue  and  hard.  Huge 
blocks  have  fallen  from  the  melting  and  undermining  at  the  bottom. 
The  man  is  standing  on  the  ridge  of  stones  and  broken  ice  which  was 
spoken  of  before  as  lying  close  to  the  ice,  and  not  able  to  be  seen  in 
Figure  13. 

In  Figure  15  more  than  half  of  the  picture,  embracing  the  fore- 
ground from  the  upper  left  corner  to  the  upper  side  of  the  black  belt 
near  the  lower  right  corner,  is  a  part  of  the  lateral  moraine  of  the 
glacier.  The  crest  of  the  moraine  is  the  dark  part  running  diagonally 
across  the  middle  of  the  picture.  The  rugged  surface  of  the  glacier  ic 
back  of  the  dark  crest  of  the  moraine,  behind  the  two  men.  It  moves 
from  near  the  upper  left  corner  toward  the  centre  of  the  right  side  of 
the  picture.  The  snow  in  which  the  men  are  standing  has  fallen  upon 
the  moraine  and  is  not  part  of  the  glacier.  The  big,  dark  boulders  or 
blocks  of  rock  in  the  snow  are  part  of  the  lateral  moraine. 

In  Figure  16  a  nearer  view  of  the  front  of  the  glacier  is  shown  than 
in  Figure  13.  The  morainic  ridge  which  lies  close  against  the  ice  is  cut 


FIG.  16.    Terminal  Moraine,  Front  of  Glacier,  and  Glacier  in  Distance. 
Photograph  by  A    Thorson. 


42  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

through  by  the  sub-glacial  stream  which  comes  from  under  the  ice 
where  the  black  place  is  seen  at  the  bottom  of  the  ice,  near  the  centre 
of  the  picture  in  the  foreground.  At  the  time  this  picture  was  taken 
the  ridge  was  being  pressed  upon  by  the  ice  and  apparently  shoved 
down  by  it. 

Near  the  centre  of  the  picture  is  a  part  of  the  glacier  where  the  ice 
is  broken  into  a  chowder  by  a  fall  or  slide  down  a  precipice  about  3,000 
feet.  The  precipice  is  shown  just  back  of  the  white  place  in  the  centre 
of  the  picture.  This  is  what  is  called  an  ice  cascade  or  cataract,  corre- 
sponding to  what  in  rivers  of  water  instead  of  ice  is  a  water-fall.  The 
ice  goes  over  this  great  cataract  in  immense  masses,  crashing  with  tre- 
mendous force  down  over  the  rocky  steep,  making  a  noise  like  the 
heaviest  thunder.  There  is  a  roaring  and  booming  as  of  a  mighty  can- 
nonading as  the  great,  slowly-creeping  mass  of  ice  comes  to  this  jump- 
ing-off  place,  breaks  up  into  huge  masses  by  its  own  weight,  and  goes 
crashing  down  this  great  "toboggan."  The  ice  is  not  only  shattered  by 
the  fall,  but  it  is  shivered  into  snow-dust,  and  this  loose  mass  of  snow- 
powder  is  what  is  seen  in  the  centre  of  the  picture. 

The  sub-glacial  stream  which  has  been  noticed  before  coming  out 
from  under  the  ice,  descends  into  the  ice  at  the  foot  of  the  cataract 
where  some  of  the  ice  is  melted  by  the  friction  from  the  fall,  and  flows 
under  the  glacier  till  it  emerges  at  the  end  or  foot  of  the  glacier. 

Below,  toward  the  foreground  of  the  picture,  the  ice-powder  has 
become  solid  ice  again,  and  at  the  ice-front  or  end  of  the  glacier  it  is 
seen  to  be  hard,  blue,  stratified  ice. 

The  ice  in  the  background  of  Figure  16  is  the  same  as  that  in  Figure 
15,  and  the  lateral  moraine  in  Figure  15  is  behind  the  dark  mountain  in 
the  background  at  the  left  in  Figure  16. 

Figure  17  is  taken  a  little  to  the  right  of  Figure  16.  The  man  is 
standing  in  the  edge  of  the  river  which  flows  away  from  the  glacier. 
The  morainic  ridge  is  about  eight  feet  high,  and  is  being  pushed  by 
the  ice  from  behind.  It  is  composed  of  small  broken  stones  and  coarse 
gravel.  The  pieces  of  rock  are  mostly  angular,  not  having  been  carried 
in  the  ice  far  enough  to  become  much  rounded. 

Figure  18  shows  a  part  of  the  ice-front  taken  a  little  to  the  left  of 
Figure  17.  The  stratified  structure  of  the  ice  is  here  well  shown.  The 
morainic  ridge  near  the  ice  is  about  twenty  feet  high.  The  two  black 
places  at  the  bottom  of  the  ice  show  where  water  emerges  from  under  the 
glacier  to  form  the  river  of  ice- water  noticed  in  Figure  13.  The  morainic 


•m 


,'  i  \\  > 

'/&*•"- 


*&M 


Terminal  Moraine  and  Ice  Front  Crowding  Upon  It. 
Photograph  by  A.  Thorson. 


Terminal  Moraine  Being  Washed  Away  by  Glacial  Stream. 
Photograph  by  A.  Thorson. 
43 


44 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


ridge  has  been  mostly  washed  away  by  the  stream,  in  this  picture.  A 
hill,  or  pile  of  boulders  and  broken  bits  of  rock,  lies  between  the  two 
places  where  the  water  emerges.  Morainic  boulders,  angular  fragments 
and  gravel  are  strewn  about  in  the  foreground. 

In  Figure  19  is  shown  a  large  boulder-strewn  moraine  formed  by  a 
glacier  which  once  occupied  a  valley  at  the  left  of  the  picture,  that  is, 
the  glacier  had  its  end  or  terminus  at  the  moraine  shown  in  the  picture, 
the  ice  moving  down  the  valley  from  the  left  toward  the  right.  The 
moraine  extends  from  the  foot  of  the  mountain  at  the  extreme  left  across 
the  valley  toward  the  right.  The  glacier  has  melted  back  or  retreated  so 
that  the  moraine  is  left  as  a  mark  of  its  former  greatness.  The  snow-field 
from  which  the  glacier  comes  is  among  the  crags  shown  in  the  back- 
ground of  Figure  12. 

The  houses  which  stand  on  the  moraine  are  what  are  called  "Settl- 
ers"— summer  dwellings  used  while  grazing  herds  in  these  mountain 
regions  during  the  warmer  months  of  the  year.  The  house  at  the  left 
is  used  as  a  tourists'  hotel. 


FIG.  19.    An  Old  Moraine.    Photograph  by  A.  Tkorson 


CHAPTER   THE    FIFTH. 

THE  GREAT  ICE-SHEET  IN  NORTH  DAKOTA. 

The  Dakota  Glacier  and  Its  Moraines.— The  landscape  of  North  Da- 
kota is  marked  by  many  hills  similar  to  those  made  by  the  alpine 
glaciers  of  Norway,  only  our  hills  are  grown  over  with  grass  like  the 
old  moraine  in  Figure  19.  Just  as  the  hills  we  saw  bordering  the  ice 
were  made  of  materials  brought  down  by  the  ice  and  left  where  it 
melted,  so  our  hills  are  morainic  hills  deposited  by  the  ice  of  a  greater 
glacier. 

This  great  glacier  was  a  lobe  of  the  Great  North  American  Ice- 
Sheet.  There  were  several  large  lobes  along  the  southern  edge  of  the 
Continental  Ice-Sheet,  but  the  lobe  which  covered  our  State,  which  is 
known  as  the  Dakota  Glacier,  interests  us  most.  A  similar  lobe  pushed 
its  way  across  Minnesota  and  as  far  south  as  central  Iowa.  This  is 
known  as  the  Minnesota  Glacier. 

The  position  of  these  two  lobes  or  glaciers  and  their  relation  to 
each  other  and  to  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  from  which  they  pushed  out,  and 
of  which  they  were  a  part,  is  shown  in  Figure  20.  The  moraine  forming 
at  the  edge  is  that  of  the  Ninth  or  Leaf  Hills  stage.  The  position  of 
this  moraine  and  the  others  in  the  State  are  shown  on  the  Map, 
Figure  I. 

The  moraines  in  North  Dakota  which  are  most  important  are  the 
terminal  moraines.  They  extend  across  the  State  in  a  generally  north- 
Horthwest  and  south-southeast  direction.  Sometimes  a  moraine  is  a 
ridge  or  single  range  of  hills  and  sometimes  it  is  a  belt  of  hills,  hollows 
and  ridges  from  one  to  several  miles  wide.  The  hills  of  a  moraine  may 
be  high,  sometimes  becoming  150  to  200  feet  above  the  hollows  at  their 
bases,  and  they  are  sometimes  merely  low  swells  on  the  prairie. 

Lakes  are  a  feature  of  a  morainic  landscape.  A  dozen,  a  score,  half 
a  hundred,  may  occur  in  a  "single  township.  Plymouth  Township  in 
Massachusetts  is  said  to  have  360  lakes.  Such  lakes  fill  the  hollows 
which  are  deep  enough  to  receive  more  water  than  can  evaporate. 

The  region  which  lies  between  two  moraines  is  most  commonly 


46 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 


ground-moraine,  that  is,  boulders,  gravel,  sand  and  clay,  which  were 
shoved  and  pushed  along  the  bottom  of  the  glacier  and  run  over  and 
ground  up.  But  often  a  terminal  moraine  blends  with  the  ground- 
moraine  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  where  one  begins  and  the  other 
ends. 

Generally  the  land  between  moraines,  or  between  the  belts  and 
ridges  of  the  same  moraine,  is  good  farming  land,  and  is  what  is  com- 


H\HW\(//  ///// 
MWV/1 


G.V..  C9LOIN  VALUT    E.V.-  ELK  VAUtY     E.VD.  •  ELK  VALLEY  DELTA 

FIG.  20.    Dakota  and  Minnesota  Glaciers.    From  a  Drawing 
by  Prof.  Thomas  H.  Grosvenor. 

monly  called  the  "rolling  prairie."  Shallow  lakes  often  occur  on  these 
rolling  lands,  caused,  like  the  lakes  among  the  hills  and  ridges  of  a 
moraine,  by  more  water  collecting  in  the  low  clay-bottomed  places  than 
can  evaporate.  Many  "alkali  lakes"  are  such  "pans"  from  which  dur- 
ing dry  seasons  the  water  evaporates  leaving  the  white  alkaline  min- 
erals which  were  dissolved  from  the  soil,  forming  a  white  crust  over  the 
bottom. 


THE   GREAT  ICE-SHEET   IN   NORTH   DAKOTA.  47 

Lateral  and  medial  moraines  do  not  so  much  concern  us  in  North 
Dakota,  because  they  cannot  generally  be  distinguished  from  terminal 
moraines.  The  series  of  long  hills  known  as  "The  Ridge"  and  "The 
Mountains,"  which  lies  between  -Larimore  and  Edinburg,  shown  in 
Figure  20,  is  a  medial  moraine  formed  between  two  great  lobes  or  glaciers 
of  the  ice-sheet. 

Do  not  forget  that  each  moraine  or  belt  of  hills  means  that  here  was 
the  edge  of  the  glacier  at  one  time;  that  these  hills,  all  the  gravel  and 
boulders,  all  the  clay  and  sand,  of  which  they  are  composed,  were  de- 
posited from  the  melting  of  the  ice  at  or  near  the  glaciers  edge.  It 
should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  melting  of  a  great  mass  of  ice 
means  that  a  large  amount  of  water  must  find  escape  somewhere. 
These  ice-waters  formed  large  rivers  which  flowed  away,  making  great 
channels  with  their  mighty  currents,  and  carrying  down  their  courses 
gravel,  sand  and  fine  silt.  Many  lakes  also  were  formed  along  the  edge 
of  the  glacier  from  waters  pouring  off  from  the  ice  and  from  under- 
neath it. 

The  marks  of  these  glacial  rivers  and  lakes  are  now  plainly  seen 
upon  our  prairie  landscapes.  Broad  valleys  with  steep  and  high  banks 
are  seen  in  many  parts  of  our  State,  and  these  often  have  only  a  tiny, 
meandering  brooklet  threading  its  way  over  the  broad,  level  bottom. 
And  sometimes  there  is  no  stream  at  all  in  such  a  valley. 


I  ^Vff *oft> s ..A    .          ,          -'VO^S^ 


FIG.  21.    Cross  Section  of  the  Valley  of  a  Glacial  Stream. 


The  great  Sheyenne  Valley  is  one  of  the  most  notable  examples  of 
this  kind,  and  one  of  the  grandest  in  all  the  Northern  States.  It  re- 
quires no  great  effort  of  the  imagination  to  see  that  the  present  small 
and  slow-flowing  Sheyenne  River  did  not  make  the  great  valley  in  the 
bottom  of  which  the  river  now  flows. 

Many  broad,  fertile  prairies,  a  little  lower  than  the  surrounding  roll- 
ing prairie,  and  having  hills  alongside  and  not  very  far  distant,  may  be 
the  place  where  has  been  a  sheet  of  ice-water  from  the  melting  glacier 


48  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

— a  temporary  glacial  lake.  The  richness  of  the  soil  on  such  prairies  is 
often  due  to  the  fact  that  waters  flowing  into  the  lake  carried  fine  silt 
or  r.ock-flour  and  deposited  it  over  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  This  tem- 
porary lake  disappeared  after  its  supply  of  water  from  the  melting  ice 
ceased.  Sometimes,  however,  a  pond  or  marsh  remains  as  a  vestige  of 
the  larger  lake. 

The  Dakota  Glacier  flowed  south  and  a  little  east  from  the  direction 
of  Lake  Manitoba  and  the  region  west  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  at  the 
time  of  its  greatest  extent  reached  across  North  and  South  Dakota. 
The  Dakota  Lobe  and  a  part  of  the  Minnesota  Lobe  at  a  later  stage, 
when  the  ice  had  melted  back  a  long  way,  is  shown  in  Figure  20.  When 
it  stood  at  the  position  shown  in  Figure  22  the  outermost  moraine, 
called  the  First  or  Altamont  Moraine,  was  formed,  along  the  edge  of 
the  ice.  On  the  west  side  of  the  lobe  was  formed  the  irregular  system 
of  hills  shown  in  Figure  I  crossing  the  State  through  Mclntosh,  Logan, 
Emmons,  Kidder,  Burleigh,  McLean,  Ward  and  Williams  Counties. 

Across  the  State  from  Ashley  in  Mclntosh  County  (see  Map,  Figure 
i),  northeast  to  Park  River  in  Walsh  County,  a  line  would  cross  the 
ten  great  Terminal  Moraines  formed  by  the  Dakota  Lobe  or  Glacier 
of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  in  North  Dakota.  These  moraines  have  been 
named  in  their  order  from  the  one  first  formed  at  the  outer  edge  of  the 
glacier  to  the  one  far  to  the  north  in  Canada.  They  are  numbered  as 
well  as  given  geographic  names. 

The  outer  or  First  is  the  Altamont  Moraine,  the  name  meaning 
"high  hills;  the  Second  or  Gary  Moraine,  the  Third  or  Antelope,  the 
Fourth  or  Kiester,  the  Fifth  or  Elysian,  the  Sixth  or  Waconia,  the 
Seventh  or  Dovre,  the  Eighth  or  Fergus  Falls,  the  Ninth  or  Leaf  Hills 
and  the  Tenth  or  Itasca.  The  Itasca  Moraine  was  formed  after  the  ice 
had  retreated  to  the  next  stage  after  that  represented  in  Figure  20.  The 
reader  need  not  try  to  remember  these  names.  They  are  given  here 
for  reference,  for  convenience  later.  The  names  are  geographic  names 
from  places  where  the  moraines  are  well  developed,  as  for  example  the 
Fergus  Falls  Moraine  is  named  from  the  fact  that  the  city  of  Fergus 
Falls,  Minnesota,  stands  upon  this  moraine,  where  the  hills  are  very 
conspicuous.  The  names  have  no  more  meaning  than  the  names  of 
persons. 

Lakes  and  streams  o?  ice-water  skirt  the  edge  of  the  glacier.  Great 
streams  also  poured  off  from  the  surface  of  the  ice  and  spread  out  upon 
the  ground  adjoining.  Much  gravel,  sand  and  finer  rock-powder  were 


THE   GREAT   ICE-SHEET   IN   NORTH   DAKOTA. 


49 


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fl 

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50 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


washed  by  such  streams  from  the  ice-front  and  spread  as  "over-wash 
plains"  upon  the  land.  The  streams  cut  wide  and  deep  channels,  for 
the  waters  were  kept  at  flood  by  the  continued  melting  of  the  ice. 
When  the  ice  had  melted  of  course  the  streams  ceased  to  be,  but  their 
channels  were  left  and  they  mark  the  landscape  to-day  in  many  parts  of 
the  State. 

South  of  Devils  Lake  are  some  of  the  largest  hills  in  the  State. 
There  was  probably  a  large  range  of  hills  there  before  the  ice-sheet 


AT  THE  TIME  Of 
THE  FORMATION  OF 
THE  OUTER  MORAINE 

IN  SOUTH 


FIG.  23.    After  Todd. 

covered  the  country.    When  the  Dakota  Glacier  extended  across  North 
and  South  Dakota  these  hills  were  buried  in  the  ice. 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  .the  Leaf  Hills  Moraine,  or  when 
the  Dakota  Glacier  reached  as  far  south  as  is  shown  in  Figure  20,  the  ice 
edge  stood  upon  the  hills  south  of  Devils  Lake,  not  being  deep  enough 
to  flow  over  them.  East  of  these  hills  it  pushed  farther  south.  The 
ice  of  the  Dakota  Glacier  moved  from  the  north  in  the  direction  of 
Lake  Manitoba  toward  the  south  and  a  little  east,  and  that  of  the 


THE   GREAT   ICE-SHEET    IN    NORTH    DAKOTA. 


51 


Minnesota  Glacier  from  the  region  beyond  Lake  Superior  and  south  of 
Hudson's  Bay  toward  the  south  and  west.  The  two  lobes  of  the  Great 
Ice-Sheet  thus  met  along*  the  Pembina  Mountain  highland.  It  was  in 
the  hollow  or  ice  valley  between  the  lobes  that  the  Glacial  Elk  River 
flowed,  at  first  probably  on  the  top  of  the  ice,  and  later  formed  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Elk  Valley.  It  was  this  great  glacial  river  which 
carried  down  the  sand  and  finer  rock-flour  which  made  the  Elk  Valley 
Delta,  from  about  McCanna  and  Larimore  south  to  Portland. 

The  Work  Done  by  Moving  Ice.— Let  us  now  inquire  as  to  the  effect 
of  a  great  moving  mass  of  ice  upon  the  land-surface  it  passes  over.  If 
there  are  rough  places  on  the  rock  surface  these  will  be  ground  off  and 
smoothed,  and  the  fragments  which  are  torn  away  will  be  shoved  or 
carried  along  with  the  moving  mass.  The  rubbing  of  the  moving  ice 


FIG.  24.    A  Small  Hill  Being  Planed  Down  by  the  Ice. 


serves  to  give  a  peculiar  polish  to  the  stones  carried  in  it.  Such 
smoothed  and  polished  rocks  are  very  common  among  glacial  gravels 
and  boulders.  In  fact,  nearly  all  the  boulders  in  the  fields  are  smooth, 
at  least  the  sharp,  angular  corners  have  been  rounded,  and  many  of 
them  are  distinctly  polished.  It  is  common  also  to  find  boulders  and 
pebbles  not  only  smoothed  but  having  straight  lines  cut  in  their  sur- 
faces. These  lines  have  been  caused  by  the  stone  being  shoved  against 
another  hard  rock.  Boulders  or  pebbles  having  marks  made  in  this 
manner  are  said  to  be  "striated,"  and  the  fine  lines  or  furrows  are  called 
"striae." 

Boulders  or  fragments  which  are  carried  or  shoved  along  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ice  upon  a  hard  rock  floor  wrill  indeed  receive  severe  treat- 
ment. Not  only  will  their  rough  corners  be  ground  off,  but  any  except 
those  which  are  very  hard  will  be  likely  to  be  ground  to  powder.  Much 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


FIG.  25.    Showing  Formation  of  Moraine,  and  Stratification  of  the  Ice. 
Photograph  by  Prof.  T.  C.  Chamber  tin. 


FIG.  26.    Showing  Moraine,  which  is  being  Crowded  upon  by  the  Moving  Ice. 
Photograph  by  Prof.  T.  C.  Chamber  tin. 


THE   GREAT   ICE-SHEET   IX    NORTH    DAKOTA. 


53 


FIG.  27.    A  Striated  and  Polished  Boulder.    Photograph  by  M.  B.  Erickson. 


of  the  clay  of  our  fields  is  rock-flour  thus  ground  by  the  great  glacier- 
mill. 

While  these  rock  fragments  which  are  carried  along  by  the  moving 
ice  are  being  thus  ground  to  powder,  what  is  the  effect  upon  the  under- 
lying bed-rock?  It  must  be  getting  a  pretty  hard  scouring!  Figure 
29  is  a  photograph  of  striae  on  a  surface  of  hard  quartzite  rock  in  South 
Dakota.  If  a  hummock  or  little  hill  lies  in  the  path  of  the  glacier,  and  if 
its  width  and  height  are  so  great  that  it  cannot  be  broken  off,  then 
the  ice  will  surround  it  and  flow  over  it.  The  hummock  will  be  combed 
and  rasped  by  the  ice  and  by  the  pieces  of  rock  which  are  being  car- 
ried in  it.  If  the  hummock  should  withstand  the  harsh  treatment,  when 
the  glacier  disappears  by  melting  and  leaves  the  once  ice-covered  land- 
scape, the  little  hill  or  hummock  may  look  something  like  A — Figure  30 
— or  like  B — Figure  30 — the  ice  having  moved  in  the  direction  of  the 
arrows. 

The  Turtle  Mountains  furnish  a  good  example  in  our  own  State  of 
a  large  and  broad  "hill"  which  was  covered  by  the  ice  and  "veneered." 


FIG.  28.    Granite  Pebble,  Showing-  Ice  Planing  and  Striae.     Drawn  by  Miss  Jessie  Dawson. 


THE   GREAT  ICE-SHEET   IN   NORTH   DAKOTA. 


55 


3  -± 


FIG.  30.    Hills  Worn  Down  by  Action  of.  the  Ice. 

The  "Mountains,"  so-called,  really  are  not  mountains  at  all,  but  a 
plateau.  Before  the  ice-invasion  this  plateau  looked  something  like  A 
— Figure  31 — standing  upon  the  prairie  like  a  great,  broad  biscuit  on  a 
table  or  floor.  After  the  ice  had  passed  over  it,  it  looked  more  like  B 
— Figure  31 — which  is  about  as  it  appears  to-day.  The  steep  side  at  the 
left  is  near  Bottineau  and  the  section  extends  northeast  across  the  In- 
ternational Boundary. 

Devils  Heart    Hill    and    Sully's    Hill   south    of   Devils    Lake    are 
"veneered"  hills.     East  of  the  Missouri  River  many  long  hills  with 


FIG.  31.    Ideal  Sections  of  the  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau,  A  before,  and  B  after,  being  Crossed 
by  the  Ice-sheet. 

smooth  outlines  have  a  core  of  stratified  rock,  but  have  been  combed 
across  by  the  ice  and  strewn  with  boulders  and  finer  glacial  gravel  and    ' 
sand,  and  so  are  "veneered"  with  drift. 

The  great  fertility  of  the  Red  River  Valley  and  the  eastern  part  of 
our  State  comes  not  alone  from  the  fact  that  the  land  in  the  Valley 


56  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

was  once  covered  by  a  lake,  but  we  have  inherited  a  large  amount  of 
limestone,  in  the  form  of  soil,  from  the  limestone  beds  in  western  Mani- 
toba. This  limestone  has  been  ground  to  powder  by  the  ice  as  it  shoved 
it  along.  We  have  noticed  that  the  Dakota  Glacier  moved  south  and 
a  little  east  from  the  region  about  Lake  Manitoba  west  of  Winnipeg. 
This  gave  the  Red  River  Valley  and  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
State  a  valuable  "shipment"  of  the  best  wheat-producing  limestone 
soil  from  our  neighboring  Province  to  the  north.  This  pulverized  and 
ground  limestone  is  the  best  and  most  fertile  known  for  wheat  grow- 
ing- 
Advance  and  Retreat  of  the  Ice  Front. — In  the  chapter  on  the  Glaciers 
of  Norway  something  was  said  about  the  advancing  or  pushing  ahead 
of  the  front  of  a  glacier  due  to  the  movement  of  the  ice  being  greater 
than  the  melting,  and  again  the  ice  melting  away  more  rapidly  than  it 
flowed  down,  causing  a  retreating  or  moving  backward  of  the  edge  of 


FIG.  32.    A  Veneered  Hill,  Ideal  Section  of  Mauvais  or  Big  Butte. 


the  glacier.  We  may  now  apply  what  we  saw  then  to  the  great  Con- 
tinental Glacier. 

If  melting  were  for  a  season  more  rapid  than  the  onward  movement 
of  the  ice,  then  the  edge  of  the  ice  would  slowly  retire  backward  and 
leave  its  supply  of  earth,  sand,  gravel,  boulders  and  clay  to  show  where 
it  had  been.  If  the  edge  had  stood  for  some  time  at  one  place  there 
would  be  a  long  heap  or  ridge  of  materials  forming  what  has  been 
called  a  moraine.  If  the  ice  melted  back  somewhat  rapidly  there  would 
be  scattered  boulders,  gravel,  sand  and  clay  over  the  area  between  the 
moraine  and  the  ice  front.  If  the  forward  movement  of  the  ice  and 
the  melting  should  now  balance  for  a  time  so  that  the  ice  front  became 
stationary  again,  here  would  be  formed  another  morainic  ridge. 

If  this  should  occur  again,  this  formation  of  a  moraine  would  be 


THE   GREAT  ICE-SHEET   IN   NORTH   DAKOTA.  57 

repeated,  and  so  there  might  come  to  be  a  series  of  morainic  ridges 
more  or  less  nearly  parallel  to  each  other.  If,  however,  the  ice  should 
move  ahead  more  rapidly  than  it  melted  away  at  the  front,  the  ice 
would  override  these  ridges,  leveling  them  down  and  pushing  their 
materials  along.  This  melting  back  and  pushing  ahead  have  occurred  a 
great  many  times,  as  a  study  of  the  terminal  moraines  of  our  State  and 
of  other  Northern  States  show.  Such  advance  and  retreat  of  the  ice 
front  would  tend  to  cause  the  terminal  moraine  to  become  not  a  simple 
line  or  long  heap  of  earth  and  stones,  but  a  belt  of  such  materials.  And 
as  not  all  the  earth  and  rock  of  the  hills  and  ridges  would  be  shoved 
along  in  front  of  the  advancing  ice  but  would  be  run  over  by  the  ice, 
the  depth  of  the  material  in  a  moraine-belt  becomes  often  very  great, 
and  so  much  material  piled  up  in  front  of  the  ice  would  act  as  a  dam 
to  the  on-flowing  ice  and  hinder  its  advance. 

The  terminal  moraines  which  mark  the  places  where  the  edge  of 
the  Great  Ice-Sheet  stood  are  not  merely  ridges  of  earth  and  rocks, 
but  are  belts  of  ridges  and  hills. 

The  hills  may  be  of  all  sizes  and  all  heights  up  to  150  feet  or  even 
200  feet.  Between  them  are  little  hollows  and  large  hollows,  "kettles," 
they  have  been  called,  sometimes  containing  water,  sometimes  dry, 
and  sometimes  what  have  been  lakes  have  given  place  to  marshes  or 
"hay-meadows"  by  the  blowing  in  of  dust  and  the  continued  growth  of 
rushes  and  water  plants  till  the  lake  has  been  filled.  Sometimes  the 
hills  are  long,  graceful  swells,  and  sometimes  their  sides  are  very  steep. 
So  also  the  hollows  may  be  round  or  they  may  be  elongated  and  irregu- 
lar, and  they  may  be  deep  or  shallow.  Sometimes  the  hillsides  are 
strewn  thickly  with  boulders,  and  sometimes  no  pebble  larger  than  a 
toy  marble  can  be  found. 

Figure  33  is  a  photograph  taken  in  "The  Hills"  southwest  of  Minot 
in  Ward  County.  Boulders  are  seen  scattered  in  abundance  over  the 
hills.  In  the  foreground  is  a  patch  of  boulders  which  have  been 
brought  together  from  far  away.  Limestones,  granites  and  quartzites 
are  here  side  by  side.  The  limestones  came  from  over,  in  Manitoba, 
perhaps  a  hundred  miles  away.  The  granites  and  hard  quartzites  may 
have  come  from  much  farther  away,  possibly  200  miles  01  more.  Such 
boulders  have  sometimes  been  traced  back  to  their  parent  ledges  over  a 
distance  of  more  than  300  miles. 

The  hill  at  the  right  where  the  carriage  stands  is  one  of  the  highest, 
if  not  the  highest,  in  this  section  of  the  State.  It  can  be  seen  from 


58 


THE   STORY   OF   THE    PRAIRIES. 


more  than  twenty  miles  distant  on  the  prairie.  Many  lakes  of  small 
size  and  hay-sloughs  can  be  seen  from  its  crest.  The  smoke  rising 
from  the  chimneys  of  the  shops  at  Minot  can  be  seen  also  twenty  miles 
away.  To  the  left  of  the  centre  of  the  picture  is  a  small  circular  lake 
now  nearly  rilled  so  that  it  is  a  marsh.  Two  others  can  be  seen,  one  at 
the  right  and  one  at  the  left  on  the  margin  of  the  picture.  These  are 
the  "meadows"  from  which  the  ranchmen  get  their  supplies  of  hay 
during  summers  when  there  is  not  too  much  rain.  They  are  lakes  dur- 
ing wet  seasons. 

If  we  imagine  that  the  ice  pushed  ahead,  leaving  its  burden  of  earth 
and  stones  and  then  in  turn  melted  more  rapidly  so  that  the  edge  of  the 


FIG.  33.     In  the  Hills  Southwest  of  Minot. 

ice  was  farther  back;  and  if  \ve  imagine  that  it.  so  to  speak,  stood  still 
here  for  some  time  so  as  to  leave  another  mass  of  earth  and  stones;  and 
if  again  the  ice  should  advance  and  plough  through  and  over  the  nearer 
masses  of  morainic  material,  and  this  process  should  be  repeated  again 
and  again,  when  the  ice  should  have  finally  all  disappeared  and  left  the 
landscape  to  become  covered  with  plants  and  trees,  we  should  expect 
that  a  very  rough  and  hilly  landscape  would  be  the  result.  And  if.  as 
has  been  suggested,  the  materials  piled  up  at  the  ice  edge  stood  in  the 
way  of  the  forward  movement  of  the  ice,  the  tongues  of  ice  would  push 
out  where  there  was  less  material  in  the  way,  and  this  would  help  to 
form  the  irregularities  such  as  we  now  see  in  terminal  moraines. 


CHAPTER    THE    SIXTH. 
MORE   EXCURSIONS. 

Shore  Boulder  Chains. — We  may  now  understand  better  perhaps  why 
the  soil  changes  in  character  so  much  in  going  short  distances.  A 
farm  may  be  located  in  a  morainic  region  and  its  soil  be  stony,  gravelly 
or  sandy,  or  all  of  these,  and  it  may  be  very  hilly  and  rough,  with  small 
lakes  or  sloughs  and  marshes.  Another  farm  only  half  a  mile  away, 
or  even  only  a  few  rods  distant,  may  be  nearly  level,  of  fine  black 
loamy  soil,  and  almost  entirely  free  from  stones.  Still  another  may 
have  a  gentle  slope  or  undulating  surface,  with  almost  no  stones,  but 
the  soil  may  be  very  sandy,  so  that  when  the  wind  blows  it  may  drift 
into  dimes  or  heaps  of  sand.  The  first  farm  may  be  on  what  was  the 
land  barrier  or  moraine  which  hemmed  in  a  temporary  lake  on  one 
side;  the  second,  where  was  once  the  deep  water  of  the  lake  and  hence 
received  the  fine  sediments ;  and  the  third  may  be  on  what  was  a  delta  in 
the  lake. 

Sometimes  again  a  chain  of  boulders  may  lie  in  great  collections 
along  some  parts  of  a  farm  or  section  of  land,  and  other  parts  near  by 
be  entirely  free  from  such  boulders.  Such  chains  of  rocks  are  often  seen 
along  the  shores  of  lakes,  especially  of  lakes  whose  waters  are  shallow. 
During  cold  winters  such  lakes  freeze  to  their  bottoms.  And  lakes 
which  are  deeper  in  some  parts  and  so  do  not  freeze  to  their  bottoms 
will  freeze  to  their  bottoms  in  the  more  shallow  parts  nearer  shore. 
If  rocks  and  boulders  are  lying  on  the  bottom,  these  become  frozen 
into  the  ice.  The  sheet  of  ice  cracks  and  breaks  during  the  winter  and 
the  cracks  become  filled  with  water  and  this  freezes  and  in  freezing  ex- 
pands, and  so  the  ice  sheet  covering  the  whole  lake  becomes  larger 
and  it  therefore  shoves  outward  upon  the  shore.  In  so  doing  the 
blocks  of  stone  and  boulders  which  were  frozen  into  the  bottom  of  the 
ice  are  shoved  toward  shore  with  the  ice.  This  not  only  moves  them 
a  little  way  shoreward,  but  it  serves  also  to  loosen  them  from  the  bot- 
tom. When  the  ice  "breaks  up,"  in  the  spring,  these  rocks  will  be 
carried  with  the  floating  ice  cakes  until  by  melting  of  the  ice  they  are 
again  dropped.  Whichever  way  the  prevailing  winds  blow  the  ice 


60 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIKS. 


cakes  will  tend  to  be  moved  and  the  rocks  with  them.  The  result  is 
that  the  boulders  are  moved  toward  the  shore  in  the  direction  of  the 
prevailing  wind.  Winter  after  winter  they  are  caught  by  the  ice  and 
shoved  and  carried  a  little  way  toward  shore.  Finally  they  are  stranded 
along  the  bottom  near  the  shore.  Then  they  are  frozen  in  and  shoved 
up  en  the  shore  by  the  expansion  process  spoken  of  until  finally  there  is 
a  great  chain  of  rocks  and  boulders  piled  along  the  shore,  shoved  up 
above  the  water's  edge  and  left  there  by  the  melting  of  the  ice.  Hence 
if  often  happens  that  there  is  a  great  shore  chain  of  rocks  piled  along 
the  windward  shore  of  a  lake,  as  though  they  had  been  hauled  there 
and  dumped  by  some  titanic  force.  Such  chains  of  boulders  were 
sometimes  piled  along  the  shores  of  glacial  lakes,  and  when  these  lakes 
disappeared  a^d  the  lake  bottom  became  a  dry  field  here  were  left  the 
boulders  to  mark  where  once  had  been  the  lake. 

Boulder-Strewn  Prairies.— There  are  many  places  where  boulders  of 
all  sizes  are  scattered  over  .the  land  in  great  numbers.  Great  blocks 
weighing  many  tons  often  lie  upon  the  prairie  as  though  they  had  been 
dropped  there  by  some  gigantic  force.  Sometimes  the  land  is  strewn 
with  boulders  so  that  one  can  walk  for  a  considerable  distance  with- 
out stepping  upon  soil  at  all.  Large  and  small  sizes,  and  different 
kinds,  granites,  quartzites,  limestones  and  others,  appear  as  though 
they  had  been  carried  there  and  thrown  down. 

Just  how  these  boulders,  these  huge  masses  and  the  smaller  blocks, 


FIG.  34.    A  Huge  "  Foreigner."     Photograph  by  Prof.  Chas,  M.  Hall. 


MORE   EXCURSIONS.  61 

came  to  be  distributed  just  as  we  now  find  them  we  need  not  now 
trouble  ourselves  about,  only  to  observe  that  they  are  all  "drift"  boul- 
ders or  "foreigners,"  and  that  they  have  been  transported  from  some 
other  place  by  the  great  ice-sheet,  and  when  the  ice  melted  they  were 
left  just  where  the  ice  happened  to  drop  them.  Their  corners  are 
nearly  always  rounded  and  their  surfaces  smoothed  by  the  rubbing  and 
grinding  of  the  great  ice-mill  in  which  they  were  carried. 

Buffalo  Boulders. — It  quite  frequently  happens  that  a  large  boulder 
lies  in  the  center  of  a  small  basin  or  hollow,  as  though  the  basin  had 
been  dug  around  the  rock.  Such  hollows  are  usually  not  large,  ex- 
tending only  a  few  feet  each  way  from  the  stone.  This  has  suggested 
the  idea  that  buffalo,  wandering  in  herds  over  the  once  unbroken 
prairie,  rubbed  their  bodies  against  the  sides  of  the  rock,  and  in  tread- 
ing about  it  ploughed  up  the  soil.  Loose  soil  is  easily  carried  by  the 
wind,  and  so  the  hollow  might  easily  have  been  formed  by  the  joint 
action  of  the  hoofs  of  the  buffalo  and  the  wind. 

The  rocks  are  sometimes  polished  on  their  sides  with  a  sort  of 
greasy  polish,  but  no  such  thing  is  seen  on  the  tops  of  the  boulders 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  animals'  heads. 

Sometimes  when  these  hollows  become  quite  deep,  or  are  on  low 
ground,  water  collects  in  them  during  wet  seasons  and  they  become 
"buffalo  wallows."  When  this  is  the  case  the  soil  would  be  carried  away 
on  the  bodies  of  the  animals. 

Stratified  Gravel  and  Sand  in  Sand-Pits. — Probably  all  have  seen  a 
gravel-  or  sand-pit.  Here  the  little  fragments  of  stone  we  call  gravel 
or  sand  are  arranged  in  beautiful  layers,  one  above  another  like  the 
boards  in  a  lumber  pile.  Some  of  the  layers  are  very  thin,  perhaps  only 
a  small  fraction  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  again  they  are  several 
inches  thick,  or  even  several  feet.  Occasionally,  also,  a  boulder  is  found 
imbedded  in  the  layers.  The  size  of  the  particles  in  any  particular  layer 
or  stratum  it  is  noticed  is  about  the  same,  though  the  next  layer  above 
or  below  may  be  much  finer  or  coarser.  If  we  follow  the  line  of  one 
layer  either  way  for  some  distance  we  may  notice  that  in  some  cases  it 
becomes  coarser  as  we  proceed,  or  it  may  become  finer;  and  many 
times  we  see  that  a  layer  becomes  thinner  and  thinner  in  one  direction 
and  finally  ceases  entirely. 

When  we  attempt  to  picture  to  our  minds  the  way  in  which  this 
gravel  mass  came  to  be  here,  remembering  that  each  of  these  grains  of 
sand  and  gravel,  however  small,  and  every  boulder  and  cobble,  was 


62 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


once  a  part  of  a  larger  rock,  that  these  tiny  bits  are  what  is  left  of  huge 
rock-masses  torn  or  broken  from  ledges  somewhere,  and  brought  here 
and  left  as  we  now  find  them  by  some  process,  we  shall  no  longer  simply 
wonder  how  these  things  came  to  be,  but  will  try  to  definitely  explain 
them. 

We  have  seen  before  how  lakes  of  longer  or  shorter  duration  might 
be  formed  at  the  front  of  the  ice-sheet,  hemmed  in  by  masses  of  earth 


lection  in  a  Gravel  Pit,  Showing  Stratified  Sand  Below,  and  Coarse  Gravel  and 
Boulders  Above.    Photograph  by  Prof.  Chas.  M.  Hall. 

and  stone  outside  the  line  of  the  ice  front.  We  have  seen  how  streams 
flowing  into  such  lakes  would  carry  great  quantities  of  earth,  fine  silt 
or  rock-flour,  and  sand,  and  even  coarser  materials,  the  product  of  the 
great  ice-plow  on  the  rocks  over  which  it  has  passed.  We  have  seen  how 
such  lakes  might  have  deltas  formed  at  their  shores  and  reaching  out  over 
their  bottoms,  and  how  finer  sediments  would  be  scattered  all  over  their 
bottoms,  and  how  they  might  finally  become  entirely  filled.  We  have 
seen  that  these  lakes  might  be  of  all  sizes,  from  mere  ponds  to  deep  and 
broad  bodies  of  water  many  miles  in  extent.  The  streams  which  flow 


MORE   EXCURSIONS.  63 

into  them  may  be  few  and  small,  or  they  may  be  many,  and  large  as 
well  as  small.  They  may  flow  with  swift  or  slow  currents,  and  may 
carry  coarse  or  fine  materials,  according  to  what  materials  were  in  the 
ice  and  the  speed  with  which  the  current  flowed,  for  a  swiftly-flowing 
stream  can  carry  a  great  deal  more  material  and  a  great  deal  larger 
fragments. 

Now,  let  us  suppose  that  the  ice  has  crowded  its  way  close  upon 
the  already  formed  terminal  moraine.  The  ice  front  stands  as  a  great 
wall,  maybe  100  feet  or  150  feet  or  1,000  feet  high.  The  melting 
causes  great  streams  of  water  to  flow  down  off  from  the  ice  and  out 
from  its  base.  These  waters  flow  away  from  the  ice  as  fast  as  they 
can  find  a  way  to  escape  over  the  earth  and  stones.  Torrents  carrying 
earth,  sand  and  gravel  pour  their  dirty  waters  into  a  basin  filled  already 
with  water,  and  even  roll  cobbles  and  boulders  into  the  lake.  As  soon 
as  these  rapid  currents  enter  the  still  waters  of  the  lake  they  become 
slower  and  throw  down  their  burden  of  earthy  materials.  The  heavier 
particles  will  be  thrown  down  first,  then  the  lighter,  and  finally  farther 
from  shore  the  finest  of  all. 

Suppose  this  keeps  on  till  a  layer  of  gravel  or  sand  or  finer 'silt  has 
been  formed,  an  inch  or  two  inches  or  even  more  in  thickness.  Mean- 
while the  ice  front  may  have  changed  its  position  or  form  by  movement 
of  some  part  of  its  mass,  or  by  melting,  or  both,  so  that  the  course  of 
the  stream  has  become  changed  and  hence  the  gathering  of  sediments 
carried  into  the  lake  will  be  changed.  Conditions  may  be  such  that 
sediments  will  not  be  carried  into  the  lake  at  the  same  places  as  before, 
and  so  the  layer  which  was  forming  on  the  bottom  may  not  be  added 
to,  but  other  parts  of  the  bottom  will  receive  the  sand  and  finer  sedi- 
ments, and  only  fine  silt  may  be  deposited  on  the  top  of  the  layer  of 
coarser  sand. 

"Then  other  changes  may  cause  still  other  manner  of  distributing 
the  gravels,  sands  and  silts.  We  may  imagine  some  coarser  material 
being  left  as  a  third  layer.  The  incoming  currents  of  water  may  be- 
come more  swift  by  more  rapid  melting  of  the  ice  or  by  the  ice  of  the 
glacier  moving  in  such  way  as  to  cause  a  steeper  bed  to  the  water 
course,  and  hence  while  some  of  the  materials  already  throwrn  down 
may  be  again  taken  up  and  carried  farther  along  into  the  lake  by  the 
swifter  currents  other  coarser  materials  now  being  carried  by  the 
swifter  streams  may  be  left  on  the  top  of  the  finer  layers  already  laid 
down,  so  that  now  there  are  four  layers  lying  one  above  another, 


64  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

the  first  of  sand,  then  one  of  very  fine  rock-flour  or  silt,  then  a  coarser 
layer  again,  and  finally  another  layer  which  may  be  coarser  still  than 
the  last  or  it  may  be  finer,  according  as  the  waters  which  carried  it  were 
moving  more  swiftly  or  more  slo\vly  than  the  waters  which  carried  in 
the  last  layer  before. 

Now,  still  other  changes  may  occur  and  other  streams  may  flow  into 
the  lake  in  greater  abundance  in  some  other  parts  of  the  lake,  a,nd  these 
streams  may  carry  still  different  materials.  But  coarser  materials  will 
be  dropped  nearer  the  shore  and  the  finer  carried  farther  out,  and  some 
of  these  may  be  scattered  o-ver  the  layer  just  described,  the  fourth  in 
the  series,  and  so  a  fifth  layer  be  added.  And  a  sixth  and  a  seventh 
may  follow,  according  to  the  time  the  lake  remained  and  streams  con- 
tinued to  pour  in  their  muddy  and  sand-laden  waters.  The  thickness 
of  the  layers  depends  upon  the  changing  conditions  which  have  just 
been  noticed,  a  layer  of  coarse  sand  or  gravel  accumulating  more 
rapidly  than  a  layer  of  fine  silt. 

If  occasionally  a  boulder  occurs  imbedded  in  the  fine  layers  we  shall 
understand  that  even  large  rocks  may  be  rolled  and  even  carried  by 
streams  if  their  currents  are  very  swift.  Larger  and  smaller  boulders 
may  therefore  be  expected  to  be  found  imbedded  in  the  layers  of  gravel, 
sand  and  silt. 

The  coulees  or  young  valleys  and  the  larger  streams  which  are  now- 
furnishing  sediment  to  fill  the  lakes,  and  many  other  changes  in  the 
appearance  of  the  landscape  surrounding  glacial  lakes,  including  the 
growing  of  grass  and  trees,  and  the  crumbling  of  rocks  by  action  of 
frost,  air  and  wind,  and  the  dissolving  of  soils  by  the  rains,  are  things 
which  have  occurred  since  the  ice  of  the  great  Ice-Sheet  disappeared 
to  return  no  more,  in  other  words,  these  are  what  are  called  post- 
glacial changes,  or  changes  which  have  occurred  since  the  Glacial 
Period. 

A  Hard  Problem  for  a  Boy  to  Understand. — It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to 
think  that  all  the  materials  of  the  fields,  the  sand,  gravel  and  larger 
rocks  of  the  hills,  all  the  materials  in  fact  of  which  the  landscape  for 
many  feet  below  the  surface  is  composed,  have  been  brought  from  some- 
where else,  are  transported  materials,  that  the  whole  top  of  the  earth,  as 
it  were,  has  been  shoved  in  from  outside,  has  been  brought  here  in  or 
on  or  under  the  ice.  This  seems  a  great  piece  of  fiction  perhaps  at 
first.  We  have  seen  earth  and  rocks  carried  by  ice,  but  not  on  such  a 
scale  as  would  amount  to  anything  like  the  great  covering  of  drift 


MORE    EXCURSIONS.  65 

which  overlies  the  bed-rock  over  the  greater  part  of  our  State,  and  over 
many  of  the  Northern  States.  Considerable  exercise  of  the  imagina- 
tion is  needed  to  realize  the  force  of  this  great  fact. 

A  young  man  once  brought  to  the  writer  a  stone  which  he  had 
found  in  the  earth  thrown  up  in  the  digging  of  a  well,  and  he  thought 
it  very  strange  that  there  was  what  he  called  a  "petrified  butterfly"  in 
the  stone!  His  face  wore  a  surprised  and  puzzled  look  while  a  few 
simple  things  were  explained  to  him  that  this  stone  was  a  "glacial" 
pebble,  that  the  "petrified  butterfly"  was  not  a  butterfly  at  all,  but  a 
fossil  form  of  a  sea  animal  which  had  long  ages  ago  lived  upon  the 
sea  bottom,  and  the  shell  of  the  little  animal  had  been  buried  there  in 
the  mud.  This  stone  had  once  been  part  of  that  mud.  In  the  lapse  of 
the  ages  the  ocean  had  disappeared  from  that  part  of  the  earth,  the  mud 
had  become  solid  rock,  and  when  the  great  Ice-Flood  spread  itself  over 
the  land  the  rock  in  which  this  little  animal  had  had  its  tomb  for  so 
long  was  broken  away  by  the  moving  ice  and  had  been  carried  here 
along  with  other  stones,  clay  and  soil,  and  the  fragment  of  rock  had 
been  dug  up  from  the  drift,  the  boulder  had  broken  to  pieces,  and  so 
here  was  the  "fossil"  remains  of  the  little  sea  animal! 

"A  sea  animal!"  he  exclaimed.  "Why,  it  was  nearly  a  thousand 
miles  from  the  ocean  where  I  found  this  piece  of  stone!" 

"Yes,  but  all  the  land,  all  the  solid  rocks  have  been  formed  from 
mud  in  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  and  afterwards  the  ocean  bottoms 
have  become  dry  land,  and  the  muds  of  the  ocean  the  solid  rocks.  The 
ice  carried  the  stone  to  where  you  found  it  long  after  the  ocean  had 
gone." 

"The  ice  carried  it!"  he  exclaimed  again,  still  puzzled.  "That  seems 
to  me  a  pretty  big  story  to  believe,  for  it  was  down  more  than  twelve 
feet  in  the  ground  and  there  were  other  large  stones  above  it." 

Now,  to  the  reader  who  has  followed  these  pages,  it  is  hoped  that 
the  story  does  not  seem  "too  big"  to  be  understood.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  reader  is  able  to  understand,  after  reading  the  pages  of  this  book 
thus  far,  that  ice  spreading  and  flowing  over  the  land  in  a  vast  sheet 
could  have  carried  the  soil  of  the  fields,  the  rocks  and  clays  of  the  hills 
and  prairies,  and  that  in  this  way  is  explained  the  occurrence  of  large 
and  small  stones,  stones  of  many  kinds,  and  clay  and  sand,  all  in  a  great 
mixture,  making  up  our  landscape. 

When  we  try  to  picture  to  our  minds  the  distance  to  the  Moon,  to 
the  Sun  or  to  the  planet  Neptune,  we  cannot  without  some  effort  realize 


66  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

these  great  distances.  The  mind  cannot  at  first  readily  think  them. 
But  we  think  of  the  Sun  as  being  much  farther  away  than  the  Moon, 
and  Neptune  as  much  farther  away  than  the  Sun,  and  of  the  stars  as 
vastly  farther  distant  in  space  than  Neptune.  We  dwell  upon  the  fig- 
ures representing  those  great  distances,  and  finally  come  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  immensity  of  space  and  of  the  extent  of  the  great  universe. 
So  when  the  untutored  youth  tried  to'  follow  the  thought  of  the  ex- 
planation of. the  stone  which  contained  the  "petrified  butterfly,"  the  sea 
animal  which  was  found  a  thousand  miles  from  the  ocean,  his  mind  was 
quite  unable  to  grasp  the  problem,  and  so  he  exclaimed,  "It  is  a  pretty 
big  story  to  believe !" 

.  To  the  minds  of  many  persons  who  have  not  trained  their  imagina- 
tions to  an  enlarged  view  of  things  about  them ;  who  have,  it  may  be, 
never  asked  themselves  the  reason  why  rivers  run  in  valleys  or  why 
valleys  are  bounded  by  hills  or  whether  prairie  plains  must  some  time 
become  hilly  slopes ;  who  have  never  wondered  why  the  boulders  and 
gravel,  the  clay  and  soil  are  distributed  as  they  are,  such  an  explana- 
tion as  that  related  above  would  be  as  hard  to  understand  and  believe 
as  it  was  to  the  boy.  We  must  not  therefore  expect  to  grasp  the  full 
force  and  meaning  of  the  geological  story  of  our  own  neighborhood  or 
State  at  the  first  effort.  If  we  could  all  visit  the  great  ice  fields  of 
Greenland  and  look  upon  the  vast  ice  sheet,  see  the  great  promon- 
tories of  ice  standing  like  huge  walls  of  rock  as  high  above  the  ground 


FIG.  36.     A  Joint  Moraine  Formed  by  the  Meeting  of  two  Glaciers. 
Photograph  by  Prof.  T.  C.  Chamberlin. 


MORE   EXCURSIONS. 


67 


68  THE   STORY   OF   T.HE   PRAIRIES. 

in  front  of  them  as  would  be  measured  by  standing  three  of  the  highest 
church  spires  in  our  State  one  above  the  other;  if  we  could  look  upon 
the  great  masses  of  rock  which  are  being  carried,  shoved  and  broken, 
and  left  in  great  terminal  moraines;  if  we  could  walk  or  climb  upon  the 
top  of  the  great  slowly  moving  mass  of  ice;  if  we  could  behold  the 
great  expanse  of  snow  stretching  away  in  the  distance  and 
from  which  reach  out  towards  the  lower  regions  the  great  ice  tongues 
or  glaciers,  it  would  help  us  to  understand  the  meaning  of  a  great  Con- 
tinental Glacier  or  Ice-Sheet.  We  should  be  better  able  to  see  how  the 
stone  which  the  boy  found  in  the  well  digging  could  be  a  part  of  a  great 
mass  of  materials  which  had  been  carried  by  the  great  moving  ice-sheet 
from  the  regions  of  the  North.  The  hills  known  as  moraines,  of  which 
our  State  has  a  great  number,  would  then  be  more  easily  understood 
as  the  dumped  material  left  from  the  melting  of  the  ice. 

If  we  can  imagine  a  great  ice-sheet  many  times  larger  than  the 
great  ice-sheet  now  covering  Greenland  to  be  spread  over  two-thirds  of 
North  America,  and  instead  of  the  ice  having  a  depth  three  times  as 
great  as  the  height  of  the  highest  church  spire  you  have  seen,  we 
imagine  the  whole  country  to  be  covered  by  ice  to  a  depth  of  half  a 
mile  to  a  mile  or  more,  we  shall  be  still  better  able  to  undersfand  the 
meaning  of  the  landscape  with  its  hills  and  prairies,  lakes  and  marshes, 
boulders  and  sandy  plains. 


CHAPTER   THE    SEVENTH. 
NORTH   DAKOTA,   THE   OLD  AND  THE   NEW. 

Three  Types  of  Landscape.— North  Dakota  may  be  said  in  a  general 
way  to  have  three  kinds  of  topography  or  landscape  features:  first,  the 
level-prairie  portion,  which  is  almost  perfectly  flat,  and  is  almost  un- 
drained  by  streams;  second,  the  rolling-prairie  portion,  which  is  marked 
by  ranges  of  rounded  hills,  some  of  them  high,  and  many  small  lakes 
without  outlets ;  and,  third,  the  region  which  is  drained  by  streams  hav- 
ing well-established  courses,  many  high  hills  with  flat  tops  and  steep 
sides,  and  no  lakes. 

The  first  kind  of  landscape  includes  those  parts  of  the  State  which 
were  for  a  considerable  time  covered  by  large  bodies  of  water  during 
the  time  of  the  melting  of  the  ice  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet.  There  are 
four  regions  in  the  State  which  belong  to  this  class.  These  are  the 
great  Red  River  Valley,  embracing  the  eastern  tier  of  counties  of  the 
State;  the  Mouse  River  Valley,  including  parts  of  Bottineau,  Ward, 
McHenry,  Pierce  and  Rolette  Counties;  a  small  area  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  State  extending  south  from  Oakes  and  embracing  the  east- 
ern part  of  Dickey  County;  and  a  region  covering  most  of  Sargent 
County,  and  a  part  of  Ransom. 

The  second  kind  of  landscape  includes  all  the  great  central  portion 
of  the  State  west  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  to  the  Missouri  River,  ex- 
cept the  Old  Lake  bottom  areas  just  mentioned. 

The  third  kind  of  landscape  includes  all  that  part  of  the  State  west 
of  the  Missouri  river,  and  includes  the  famous  region  known  as  the 
"Bad  Lands." 

There  are,  therefore,  the  Old  Lake  bottom  regions,  the  glaciated 
regions  which  have  not  been  covered  by  large  bodies  of  water,  and 
the  region  which  was  not  at  any  time  covered  by  the  ice  of  the  Great 
Ice-Sheet. 

The  Manitoba  Escarpment.— A  line  of  highland  extends  across  the 
State  from  Pembina  Mountain  on  the  International  Boundary  south- 


70 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


ward  to  the  hills  known  as  the  Coteau  des  Prairies  near  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  State  in  southeastern  Sargent  County,  near  Rutland 
and  Havana.  This  highland  continues  far  north  into  Canada,  and 
south  across  South  Dakota  and  into  southwestern  Minnesota.  The 
highest  part  of  the  highland  within  our  State  is  the  Pembina  Moun- 
tain, five  or  six  miles  south  of  the  International  Boundary  and  about 
five  miles  west  of  Walhalla,  It  forms  the  highland  which  rises  west  of 
Larimore  and  which  is  plainly  seen  from  the  passing  railway  train 
south  to  Northwood  and  Hatton,  on  the  Breckenridge  Division  of  the 
Great  Northern  Railway.  Farther  south  it  is  not  so  high.  Where  it  is 


PIG.  38.    Map  of  North  Dakota,  showing  the  Highlands 

Drawing  by  Miss  M.  Emma  Davis.  '  X    "^ 

crossed  by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  west  of  Wheatland  it  is  only 
a  prairie  swell  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  high.  South  from  here  to  Havana 
it  continues  low,  but  rises  suddenly  at  Havana  into  the  high-hilly  region 
of  the  Coteau  des  Prairies. 

The  Coteau  du  Missouri — More  than  one-third  of  the  State  of  North 
Dakota  is  embraced  in  what  is  known  as  the  Plateau  du  Coteau  du 
Missouri,  a  rather  large  name,  but  which  simply  means  the  hilly  upland 
plain  of  the  Missouri.  The  eastern  edge  of  this  great  plateau  rises 
quite  'suddenly  300  to  400  feet  from  the  prairie  lands  eastward.  The 


NORTH  DAKOTA,  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  71 

line  of  the  eastern  edge  crosses  the  International  Boundary  near  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  State  in  Williams  County,  and  extends  in  a 
southeasterly  and  southerly  direction  across  the  State,  passing  fifteen 
or  eighteen  miles  west  of  Minot  in  Ward  county,  Dog  Den  Butte  in 
northern  McLean  County  and  Hawk's  Nest  in  southeastern  Wells 
County  being  outlying  hills  belonging  to  this  plateau ;  thence  it  runs  in 
a  more  southerly  course  about  ten  miles  west  of  Jamestown,  five  to 
eight  miles  west  of  Edgeley  in  western  Lamoure  County,  and  about 
fifteen  miles  west  of  Ellendale  in  Dickey  county.  The  whole  of  the 
Missouri  "slope,"  within  our  State,  lies  upon  this  great  plateau.  The 
eastern  part  of  the  plateau  is  the  watershed  between  the  Missouri 
River  and  the  rivers  draining  into  Hudson's  Bay, — the  Mouse,  the 
Sheyenne, — and  the  James  Rivers.  This  highland  extends  westward 
with  gradually  increasing  altitude  till  it  flanks  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  Turtle  Mountains,  lying  upon  the  International  Boundary  about 
100  miles  east  of  the  edge  of  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  belong  with  this 
great  plateau  geologically.  That  is,  the  Turtle  Mountains  were  once 
a  part  of  the  great  Missouri  plateau,  but  they  have  been  cut  off  by 
the  great  valley  which  now  lies  between — the  valley  of  the  Mouse 
River.  The  layers  of  rock  in  the  Turtle  Mountains  are  the  same  as 
those  in  the  larger  plateau,  and  the  strata  or  rock  layers  once  extended 
across  the  valley. 

We  see  therefore  that  there  is  a  general  rise  in  elevation  westward 
from  the  Red  River  of  the  North  on  the  eastern  boundary,  which  is 
951  feet  at  Wahpeton,  900  feet  at  Fargo,  835  feet  at  Grand  Forks, 
and  753  feet  at  Pembina,  to  an  altitude  above  sea-level  at  Buford,  near 
where  the  Yellowstone  River  enters  the  Missouri,  of  1,950  feet,  more 
than  2,400  feet  on  the  general  level  away  from  the  river,  and  west  of 
Sentinel  Butte  where  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  crosses  the  State 
line,  2,810  feet. 

All  these  highlands,  except  the  region  west  of  the  Missouri  River, 
were  covered  by  the  ice  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet,  the  western  limit  of  the 
ice  being  nearly  along  the  present  course  of  the  Missouri  River.  The 
vast  ice-sheet  by  its  melting  supplied  a  great  amount  of  water,  but  at 
the  same  time  those  streams  which  flowed  toward  the  north  were 
dammed  up  by  the  ice  so  that  lakes  accumulated  in  the  valleys  south 
of  the  ice-front  where  the  highlands  furnished  a  wall  'to  hem  in  the 
waters.  The  waters  finally  were  compelled  to  find  escape  by  overflow- 
ing southward. 


72  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

The  Manitoba  Escarpment  formed  a  highland  on  the  west  which 
prevented  the  escape  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Agassiz  into  the  James 
River  Valley.  Lake  Dakota,  of  which  the  northern  end  only  reached 
into  North  Dakota,  was  hemmed  in  by  those  same  highlands  on  the 
east  and  by  the  Coteau  du  Missouri  on  the  west,  lying  in  the  trough 
of  the  James  Valley  between  these  two  highlands.  This  trough  was 
the  valley  of  the  James  River  before  the  invasion  of  the  ice,  as  it  is 
now.  Lake  Souris  occupied  the  lowland  lying  between  the  Turtle 
Mountains  and  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  extending  as  far  south  as 
Velva,  at  the  Ox-Bow  of  the  Mouse  River,  and  west  to  Minot  and  east 
to  Rugby. 

The  Missouri  River — It  is  natural  to  wonder  how  it  happened  that 
the  great  Missouri  River  should  flow  almost  exactly  along  where  the 
edge  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  was.  We  naturally  wonder  if  the  ice-sheet 
had  anything  to  do  with  causing  it;  and  when  we  notice  the  course 
of  the  upper  portion  of  the  river  from  far  west  in  Montana,  and  notice 
also  how  the  great  Yellowstone  River  enters  the  Missouri  at  Buford 
from  the  southwest  bringing  waters  north  from  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains in  Wyoming,  and  still  again  observing  that  the  Little  Missouri 
River  flows  north  for  200  miles  from  the  Black  Hills  in  South  Dakota 
and  Wyoming,  finally  emptying  into  the  Big  Missouri;  and  when  we 
notice  what  a  great  elbow  or  bend  the  Missouri  makes,  turning  almost 
south  and  following  the  edge  of  the  drift-covered  region  all  the  way 
till  it  empties  into  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,  we  are  almost  ready  to 
think  that  the  great  river  was  changed  from  its  old  course  and  com- 
pelled to  seek  a  new  one. 

The  direction  of  the  three  streams,  the  Upper  Missouri,  the  Yellow- 
stone, and  the  Little  Missouri,  is  toward  a  point  in  North  Dakota,  and 
suggests  that  they  may  have  once  flowed  toward  the  east  and  finally 
discharged  their  waters  into  Hudson's  Bay  or  Lake  Superior.  Then 
add  to  this  that  when  the  ice-sheet  was  all  over  the  land  half  a  mile  or 
a  mile  deep  the  waters  would  be  prevented  from  flowing  east  or  north 
by  the  great  ice  wall,  and  so*  their  waters  would  keep1  flowing  down 
to  the  ice.  There  must,  therefore,  be  a  great  lake  formed  along  the 
ice  wall  where  these  streams  met  or  else  the  waters  must  escape  along 
the  edge  of  the  ice. 

The  melting  of  the  ice  along  the  edge  of  the  Glacier  caused  vast 
floods  of  water  which  would  add  to  that  of  the  rivers.  This  too  must 
escape.  So  it  seems  likely  that  a  stream  channel  came  to  be  formed 


NORTH  DAKOTA,  THE  OLD  AND  THE  NEW.  73 

along-  the  edge  of  the  ice.  So  when  the  ice  finally  melted  away  the 
river  could  not  get  out  of  this  new  channel.  And  so  here  the  great 
Missouri  River  has  staid  ever  since. 

The  Ox-Bows  in  the  River  Courses — It  is  a  striking  fact  that  so  many 
of  the  streams  in  North  Dakota  make  a  bend  or  ox-bow  in  their  courses, 
curving  to  the  east  and  south  and  then  to  the  east  and  north.  A  nota- 
ble example  of  this  is  the  great  bend  or  ox-bow  of  the  Mouse  River. 
Another  is  the  big  bend  of  the  Sheyenne. 
And  when  we  look  at  a  map  of  the  State 
it  is  noticed  that  nearly  all  the  tributaries 
of  the  Red  River  of  the  North  flow  first 
south  and  east,  then  bend  around  to  the 
north  and  east. 

In  order  to  see  this  more  forcibly 
draw  a  heavy  line  on  a  sheet  of  paper  to 
represent  the  Red  River  of  the  North, 
and  then  draw  the  course  of  the  Sheyenne 
from  east  of  Devils. Lake  to  its  entrance 
into  the  Red  River  of  the  North  north  of 
Fargo.  Then  draw  the  Maple  River,  the 
Wild  Rice,  the  Goose  with  its  principal 
headwaters,  the  Turtle,  the  Forest  or 
Big  Salt,  the  Park,  the  Tongue,  and  the 
Pembina.  Notice  the  direction  of  the 
headwaters  of  the  Goose,  Turtle,  Forest, 
Park,  and  Tongue,  particularly.  Draw 
a  line  on  your  map  to  show  the  western 
shore  of  Lake  Agassiz.  Why  do  these 
streams  at  first  flow  in  a  southeasterly 
direction  ?  Because  the  highland  of  the 
Manitoba  Escarpment  is  higher  toward 
the  north  and  becomes  gradually  lower 
southward.  But  they  must  flow  east  also 
because  the  front,  or  edge,  of  the  highland 
slopes  rapidly  that  way.  But  why  do  they  so  soon  turn  toward  the 
north  after  getting  upon  the  Red  River  Valley  bottom  ?  Let  us  answer 
this  by  asking  whether  the  Red  River  Valley  is  higher  toward  the  north 
or  toward  the  south?  The  Red  River  flows  down  north.  It  is  easy 


74  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

then  to  see  why  they  turn  toward  the  north  and  east  after  flowing  for 
some  distance  to  the  south  and  east. 

But  when  these  streams  first  started  they  emptied  into  Glacial 
Lake  Agassiz.  As  this  lake  grew  smaller  and  its  shores  became  farther 
*nd  farther  east  from  the  foot  of  the  highland,  these  streams  followed 
the  retiring  waters  of  the  lake,  pushing  their  channels  along  over  the 
shore-sand  of  the  lake.  They  thus  came  to  have  a  direction  more  nearly 
east.  Finally  as  the  lake  gradually  grew  smaller,  and  sediments, 
deposited  along  the  central  axis  of  the  lake  where  now  runs  the  Red 
River,  blocked  the  way  of  the  streams,  they  turned  more  and  more 
northward.  Some  of  the  small  streams  between  Turtle  and  Forest 
Rivers  are  unable  to  get  to  the  Red  River  and  spread  out  into  marshes. 
Forest  River  nearly  suffers  this  fate,  but  escapes  toward  the  north 
after  spreading  out  into  a  lake  in  southern  Walsh  county. 

Many  Small  Lakes. — Lakes  are  always  found  in  a  region  of  country 
which  has  been  covered  by  the  ice.  They  are  commonly  small  and 
without  outlets.  Such  lakes  show  that  the  drainage  of  the  region  in 
which  they  are  has  not  yet  become  established.  Since  the  great  ice- 
flood  filled  the  former  channels  and  left  the  landscape  without  definite 
stream  courses,  the  development  of  land  drainage,  as  described  in  Chap- 
ter One,  has  not  yet  had  time  to  become  worked  out.  One  has  but 
to  glance  at  any  map  of  the  State  which  shows  the  rivers  and  lakes  to 
see  the  marked  contrast  between  that  part  of*  our  State  which  lies  west 
of  the  Missouri  River,  where  the  land  was  not  covered  by  the  ice-flood, 
and  that  part  of  the  State  which  was  covered  by  the  ice.  The  net- 
work of  rivers  and  small  streams  and  the  absence  of  lakes  west  of  the 
Missouri  River,  and  the  absence  of  rivers  or  even  small  streams  and 
the  great  number  of  small  lakes,  over  a  vast  region  east  of  the  river, 
strike  the  eye  at  once  and  hold  the  attention  of  the  thoughtful  reader. 
The  rounded  hills  which  are  so  marked  a  feature  east  of  the  Missouri 
River  to  the  Valley  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  between  and  among 
which  hills  are  the  round,  oval,  and  irregular  hollows  often  filled  with 
water  forming  the  lakes  just  mentioned,  are  morainic  hills,  which  have 
been  described  before,  and  the  lakes  are  morainic  lakes. 

The  Old  (Pre-Grlacial)  landscape  of  North  Dakota. — What  was  the  land 
surface  of  North  Dakota  before  the  Glacial  Period?  What  was  then 
the  land  surface  is  not  now,  except  that  part  of  the  State  which  lies  west 
of  the  Missouri  River.  The  old  landscape,  or  what  we  may  call  Old 
North  Dakota,  is  buried  beneath  the  drift,  covered  by  a  mantle  of  clay, 


NORTH    DAKOTA,    TIIK    OLD   AND   THE   NK\V.  75 

boulders,  sand,  and  gravel  from  four  or  five  feet  to  300  feet  in  thickness. 
It  will  be  of  interest  to  inquire  what  was  the  appearance  of  the  land- 
scape before  this  great  change  took  place, — before  the  hills  were  planed 
down  and  the  valleys  filled,  by  the  great  ice-plow. 

The  Cretaceous  Inland  Sea.— In  order  to  understand  what  the  old 
landscape  of  North  Dakota  was,  it  is  necessary  to  go  far  back  in  the 
story  of  the  past  to  the  time  when  nearly  or  quite  all  of  what  is  now 
North  Dakota  was  under  the  sea,  and  the  rocks  which  now  form  the 
bed-rock  under  the  drift  were  being  deposited  as  mud  on  the  sea 
bottom. 

At  this  time  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  extended  up  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  a  great  arm  from  the  western 
part  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  formed  an  inland  sea  extending  north  over 
what  is  now  western  Texas,  and  Indian  Territory,  and  covering  Kan- 
sas, Nebraska,  South  and  North  Dakota,  thence  extending  far  into 
British  America.  (See  Fig.  75,  p.  174.)  The  sediments  washed  into 
this  sea  from  the  land  were  spread  over  its  bottom  as  mud.  These  be- 
came the  layers  of  shale  and  sandstone  now  the  bed-rock  of  the  North 
Dakota  landscape.  This  period  of  Geologic  Time  is  known  as  the 
Cretaceous  Era.  All  the  strata  or  layers  of  shale  and  sandstone  which 
come  to  the  surface  in  our  State,  or  which  are  pierced  by  borings  for 
wells,  belong  to  the  Cretaceous  series  of  rocks.  All  the  sediments  of 
which  they  are  composed  were  deposited  upon  the  bottom  of  the  great 
Inland  Sea  during  the  Cretaceous  Era.  This  great  Cretaceous  sea 
bottom  therefore  became  the  original  landscape  of  what  is  now  North 
Dakota. 

Underneath  the  mantle  of  drift  are  the  layers  of  rock  which  were 
once  the  mud  of  this  sea  bottom.  Where  the  streams  have  cut  down 
through  the  overlying  drift  these  rocks  are  exposed  to  view,  and  in  the 
Bad  Lands  where  there  is  no  drift,  the  upper  layers  of  these  rocks  are 
well  exposed  in  the  steep  sides  of  the  buttes,  for  the  layers  of  rock,  cut 
into  by  the  streams,  form  the  buttes  for  which  this  part  of  the  State  is 
noted. 

Pre-Glacial  Erosion. — The  flat  tops  of  the  buttes  and  table-lands  were 
once  part  of  the  great  plain  which  was  lifted  above  the  sea  to  form  the 
land  of  North  Dakota.  Erosion,  or  the  cutting  of  valleys  by  streams, 
has  been  going  on  in  this  western  region  since  the  time  before  the 
Glacial  Period.  The  rocks  which  are  at  the  surface  in  the  western 
part  of  the  State  may  therefore  be  imagined  to  extend  eastward  under- 


76  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

neath  the  drift  materials.  The  edges  of  these  layers  outcrop  or  come 
to  the  surface  along  the  eastern  front  of  the  Coteau  du  Missouri.  The 
edges  of  the  layers  outcrop  because  the  layers  which  once  extended 
farther  east  have  been  carried  away  by  erosion. 

The  Coteau  du  Missouri  and  the  Turtle  Mountains  are  regions 
which  were  higher  before  the  Glacial  Period  than  the  country  east  of 
them.  The  region  embraced  in  the  great  central  portion  of  the  State 
was  a  broad  lowland  plain.  Streams  had  formed  valleys;  the  old  ocean 
bottom,  which  had  been  elevated  and  become  dry  land,  had  become 
cut  up  by  valleys.  The  hills  were  slowly  being  carried  away  by  rains 
and  rivers.  This  process  had  gone  on  till  nearly  the  whole  land  surface 
of  the"  central  part  of  the  State  had  been  worn  down  to  a  new  level. 

The  Missouri  River  and  its  tributaries  from  the  west,  the  Little 
Missouri,  the  Heart,  and  the  Cannon  Ball,  in  North  Dakota,  and  the 
Grand,  Moreau,  and  Cheyenne,  in  South  Dakota,  probably  once  dis- 
charged their  waters  to  the  east  and  north  by  the  course  of  the  pres- 
ent Red  River  of  the  North.  This  great  northward-flowing  river  had 
made  a  wide  valley  in  eastern  North  Dakota  and  western  Minnesota. 
The  present  Red  River  of  the  North  now  occupies  this  valley,  but  of 
course  the  Red  River  Valley  is  now  on  top  of  the  great  mantle  of  drift 
which  fills  the  old  valley.  Pembina  Mountain  and  the  highland  south 
to  the  Coteau  des  Prairies  form  the  western  boundary  of  this  valley. 
Pembina  Mountain  rises  350  to  450  feet  from  the  lower  land  to  the 
east.  Sixty  miles  farther  south,  the  Great  Northern  Railway  rises 
more  than  300  feet  in  passing  on  to  this  highland  from  Larimore  to 
Petersburg.  , 


CHAPTER  THE  EIGHTH. 
GLACIAL  LAKE  AGASSIZ. 

The  Conditions — It  has  already  been  observed  that  there  was  a  wide 
and  deep  valley  occupying  the  present  Red  River  Valley  before  the 
Glacial  Period.  The  western  side  of  this  valley  was  the  Manitoba  Es- 
carpment, the  continuation  of  Pembina  Mountain  southward  to  the 
Coteau  des  Prairies.  The  eastern  side  of  the  valley  was  the  higher 
land  of  northwestern  Minnesota,  the  "Great  Divide"  or  continental 
watershed,  called  in  our  geographies  the  ''Height  of  Land,"  from  which 
streams  flow  south  by  the  way  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  east  by  Lake  Superior  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  north 
by  the  Red  River  of  the  North  to  Hudson's  Bay. 

The  head  of  this  great  valley  was  south  of  Wahpeton  in  the  region 
between  the  Coteau  des  Prairies  west  of  Lake  Traverse  and  the  Height 
of  Land  on  the  east. 

The  map,  Figure  9,  shows  the  portion  of  North  America  which  was 
covered  by  the  Great  Ice-Sheet,  and  the  position  of  the  State  of  North 
Dakota.  You  see  that  all  of  the  State  except  the  southwest  corner 
"was  covered  by  the  ice.  The  great  valley  of  the  Red  River  of  the 
North  was  filled  with  ice;  the  Coteau  des  Prairies  and  Pembina  Moun- 
tain, and  the  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau,  were  covered,  and  the  great 
interior  region  occupied  by  the  valleys  of  the  Sheyenne,  James,  and 
Mouse  Rivers  was  filled;  and  the  eastern  edge  of  the  great  western 
plateau,  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  was  also  buried  beneath  the  vast  sheet 
of  ice. 

Imagine  yourself  standing  upon  the  surface  of  this  great  sheet  of 
ice  and  looking  away  over  its  broad  expanse.  Everywhere  is  snow 
and  ice,  the  surface  of  a  great  snow  sea,  no  land  anywhere  in  sight, 
nothing  but  snow  and  ice.  Deep,  very  deep,  all  over  the  land  lay  the 
great  sheet.  How  deep  was  the  ice?  Let  us  see.  How  high  are  the 
highest  grain  elevators  you  have  seen?  Less  than  100  feet  perhaps. 
Suppose  that  ten  elevators  were  placed  one  above  another,  even  then 
the  height  of  all  these  would  not  reach  up  one-half  as  high  as  the  sur- 


78  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

face  of  the  ice  was  here  in  North  Dakota,  probably.  And  if  this  height 
were  multiplied  by  ten  even  this  great  amount  would  be  much  less  than 
the  depth  of  the  ice  in  some  parts  of  North  America.  Remembering 
what  has  been  said  about  the  effect  upon  the  lower  parts  of  the  ice  of 
the  pressure  from  the  weight  of  the  mass,  think  of  the  force  which  this 
tremendous  mass  of  hard  ice,  moving  slowly  from  its  own  weight, 
exerted  upon  the  rocks  and  hills  which  it  came  against.  Think  what  it 
means  for  ice  to  flow,  pushing  its  way  into  the  valleys  and  rilling  them, 
and  riding  over  the  hills  and  grinding  off  their  sides.  You  can  picture 
to  your  mind  something  about  how  so  much  "drift  material,"  fragments 
of  rock  and  earth,  were  broken  loose  and  scraped  from  the  surface  of 
the  ground  underneath,  and  shoved  and  carried  along  by  the  mov- 
ing ice. 

You  can  now  understand  how  it  comes  that  there  is  the  great  depth 
of  clay,  gravel,  sand,  and  boulders  all  over  the  bottom  of  the  Red 
River  Valley,  for  these  are  the  broken  and  ground  up  rocks  which  were 
carried  by  the  ice,  and  when  the  ice  melted  these  materials  were  left.  In 
some  parts  of  the  Red  River  Valley  these  drift  materials  are  as  much 
as  300  feet  in  thickness. 

Of  course  there  was  no  river  where  is  now  the  Red  River  of  the 
North  when  the  ice-sheet  covered  this  region,  because  the  whole  valley 
was  filled  with  ice.  But  there  were  rivers  flowing  away  from  the  ice- 
sheet  to\vard  the  south,  for  the  melting  of  trie  ice  caused  great  quan- 
tities of  water,  and  these  flood  waters  had  to  escape  somewhere,  and  the 
only  escape  was  toward  the  south  into  the  Mississippi  River.  Many 
streams  which  flowed  away  from  the  great  ice  mass  as  large  rivers  have 
ceased  to  be,  and  their  names  are  not  in  our  geographies.  There  is 
no  melting  ice-sheet  to  furnish  the  water  to  keep  them  running.  Their 
old  valleys  are  still  left,  often  wide  and  deep  channels.  In  some  of 
these  old  channels  much  smaller  streams  still  run,  supplied  with  water 
by  the  rains  which  fall  upon  the  land. 

One  of  these  large  river  channels  is  that  in  which  Lakes  Traverse 
and  Big  Stone,  on  the  boundary  between  South  Dakota  and  Minne- 
sota, now  lie,  and  along  the  old  bottom  of  which  the  Minnesota  River 
now  flowrs  to  its  big  bend  at  Mankato.  This  old  river  channel  is  of 
much  interest  to  us  because  it  was  for  a  long  time,  as  we  shall  see  pres- 
ently, the  outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz.  The  great  river  which  cut  this  wide 
and  deep  channel  has  been  given  a  name,  although  that  name  does 
not  appear  in  our  geographies.  It  has  been  called  the  River  Warren, 


GLACIAL   LAKE   AGASSIZ.  79 

in  honor  of  General  G.  K.  Warren  of  the  United  States  Army,  who 
in  1868  discovered  the  old  channel  and  explained  its  origin. 

The  Beginnings  of  the  lake — If  now  it  is  recalled  that  the  land  about 
Lakes  Traverse  and  Big  Stone  is  higher  than  the  land  to  the  north  (and 
this  must  be  so  since  the  Red  River  flows  toward  the  north),  and  that 
the  Coteau  des  Prairies  near  the  southeast  corner  of  the  State  and  the 
line  of  highland  from  these  north  to  Pembina  Mountain  are  higher  than 
the  lands  to  the  east,  and  the  Height  of  Land  in  Minnesota  is  higher 
than  the  Valley  lands  to  the  west,  it  will  be  easy  to  understand  how  the 
glacial  Lake  Agassiz  came  into  existence.  For,  when  the  ice  had 
melted  back  so  that  the  regions  about  Wahpeton  and  Fargo  were  no 
longer  covered  by  the  ice-sheet,  but  the  ice  front  was  still  as  far  south 
as  Hillsboro  and  Blanchard,  the  water  from  the  melting  ice  filled  this 
basin.  From  the  melting  of  the  ice  the  basin  began  to  overflow,  and 
the  outlet  naturally  was  formed  at  the  lowest  point  of  the  rim.  This 
outlet  was  by  the  old  channel  in  which,  as  has  been  stated,  Lakes  Traverse 
and  Big  Stone  now  lie,  and  which  was  the  former  channel  of  the  Shey- 
enne  River  before  Lake  Agassiz  began  to  be. 

If  we  think  of  the  great  ice-sheet  retreating  toward  the  north,  that 
is,  that  it  melted  at  its  southern  edge  more  rapidly  than  the  mass  moved 
southward,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  understand  how  it  was  that  this 
lake  became  larger,  until  finally  it  spread  over  a  great  area,  the  extent 
of  which  in  North  Dakota,  Minnesota,  and  Canada  has  been  determined 
by  Mr.  \Yarren  Upham  to  have  been  as  much  as  110,000  square  miles. 
On  the  map,  Figure  9,  you  will  see  that  Lakes  Winnipeg,  Manitoba, 
and  Winnipegosis  still  occupy  a  part  of  the  old  lake  bottom.  These  are 
remnants  of  Lake  Agassiz  which  still  remain  to  tell  of  the  glory  which 
has  been. 

After  the  ice  had  melted  back  from  the  position  it  occupied  when 
the"  Dovre  Moraine  was  formed,  the  Sheyenne  River  discharged  its 
waters  by  way  of  the  River  Warren  and  the  present  large  channel  of 
the  Minnesota  River  into  the  Mississippi  and  so  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
But  when  the  .ice  had  melted  farther  back  and  a  lake  began  to  be 
formed,  then  the  Sheyenne  discharged  its  waters  into  the  lake.  The 
Sheyenne  was  a  much  larger  stream  than  it  is  now  because  the  waters 
from  the  melting  ice  kept  it  at  flood,  and  it  carried  a  large  amount  of 
sand  cut  from  its  channel  and  silt  from  the  melting  ice.  These  at  first 
helped  to  build  up  the  flood-plain  of  the  River  Warren,  but  when  the 
ice  had  melted  farther  back  so  that  the  river  spread  out  into  a  long 


80  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

narrow  lake,  a  delta  began  to  be  built  up  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sheyenne. 
The  great  Sheyenne  Delta  thus  began  to  be  formed  as  soon  as  Lake 
Agassiz  began  to  exist. 

When  the  ice  had  melted  back  farther  and  Lake  Agassiz  had  be- 
come larger,  the  delta  first  formed  served  to  block  the  course  of  the 
river  and  turned  its  waters  to  the  east,  so  that  the  Sheyenne  then  dis- 
charged its  waters  toward  the  east  into  Lake  Agassiz,  and  continued 
to  build  up  the  delta  into  a  broad  sand-plain.  The  waters  of  Lake 
Agassiz  overflowed  south  by  the  River  Warren. 

We  see  therefore  that  at  first  Lake  Agassiz  was  a  long  narrow  sheet 
of  water  about  thirty  miles  in  length  and  only  one,  two,  or  three  miles 
in  width,  extending  in  a  northwest  and  southeast  direction  from  the 
Big  Bend  of  the  Sheyenne  east  of  Lisbon  away  toward  Hankinson. 
The  higher  land  west  formed  the  shore  on  that  side,  and  the  wall  of  the 
glacier  formed  its  eastern  shore.  Lake  Agassiz  was  therefore  at  first 
little  more  than  a  broadening  of  the  Sheyenne  River. 

On  the  western  shore  of  this  first  beginning  of  Lake  Agassiz  was 
formed  the  Milnor  Beach  or  shore-line  for  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles. 
This  beach  is  about  twenty-five  feet  higher  than  the  highest  beach 
formed  after  the  lake  became  a  larger  sheet  of  water.  The  waters  of 
the  long  narrow  lake,  finding  outlet  by  the  channel  of  the  River  War- 
ren, cut  down  this  channel  about  twenty-five  feet.  It  was  at  this  lower 
level  that  Lake  Agassiz  stood  during  the  timewhen  the  highest  Herman 
Beach  was  formed,  called  the  Herman  Stage  of  the  lake. 

Increase  in  Size  and  Depth. — The  lake  soon  became  much  larger  with 
the  retreat  of  the  ice  toward  the  north.  A  large  and  conspicuous  mo- 
raine, the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine,  marks  the  next  halting  place  of  the 
edge  of  the  glacier.  Lake  Agassiz  at  this  time  was  a  sheet  of  water 
covering  an  area  of  about  5,000  square  miles.  It  extended  from  the 
outlet  at  Lake  Traverse  to  the  wall  of  the  ice  front  as  far  north  as  Ada, 
Minnesota,  and  Caledonia,  Hillsboro,  and  Blanchard,  North  Dakota. 
Its  eastern  shore  in  Minnesota  was  about  eight  miles  west  of  the  City 
of  Fergus  Falls  and  three  miles  east  of  Barnesville.  Its  western  shore 
in  North  Dakota  was  near  Wyndmere,  at  Sheldon,  and  about  five 
miles  east  of  Buffalo.  Its  depth  at  Breckenridge  and  Wahpeton  was 
about  100  feet,  at  Fargo  and  Moorhead  about  200  feet,  and  about  275 
feet  at  Caledonia.  It  was  while  the  lake  occupied  this  area  that  the 
highest  shore-line,  known  as  the  Herman  Beach,  was  formed  about 
this  part  of  the  lake. 


GLACIAL   LAKE  AGASSIZ.  81 

The  Fergus  Falls  Moraine  is  easily  recognized  on  the  east  side  of 
the  lake  bottom  in  Minnesota  by  its  high,  rounded  and  irregular  hills 
and  hollows.  It  appears  again  on  the  west  side  of  Lake  Agassiz  in 
North  Dakota  as  rolling  hills  or  very  uneven  prairies  near  Galesburg, 
and  becomes  more  rugged  and  like  the  usual  type  of  morainic  hills 
east  of  Erie.  .  Upon  the  area  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  however,  the 
materials  which  were  dumped  at  the  edge  of  the  melting  ice-sheet 
where  the  ice  front  was  bathed  by  the  waters  of  the  lake  were  washed 
away  and  leveled  down  by  the  action  of  the  waves  and  currents  of  the 
lake  and  distributed  over  the  bottom. 

The  course  of  the  moraine  across  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz  is 
marked  by  the  slightly  undulating  character  of  the  prairie.  The  mo- 
rainic materials  were  not  entirely  leveled  by  the  action  of  the  lake  wa- 
ters so  that  the  bottom  became  slightly  uneven.  This  belt  of  slightly 
uneven  prairie  extends  across  the  Red  River  Valley  from  Ada  and 
Rolette  in  Minnesota  in  a  west-northwesterly  direction  to  Caledonia, 
Reynolds,  Buxton,  and  Cummings,  North  Dakota,  and  thence  south- 
westerly to  Blanchard,  varying  in  width  from  three  to  six  or  seven 
miles. 

The  undulations  in  the  prairie  surface  upon  the  belt  of  this  leveled 
moraine  vary  from  three  to  five  feet,  though  sometimes  eight  or  ten 
feet,  above  the  adjacent  hollows.  Over  this  belt  many  boulders  are 
scattered  and  gravel  is  more  common  than  elsewhere  upon  the  lake 
bottom.  They  sometimes  occur  in  chains  or  long  patches  upon  the 
beach  ridges,  having  been  carried  or  shoved  up  onto  the  shore  by  the 
lake  ice  during  the  winters,  as  suggested  in  the  chapter  on  Shore  Boul- 
der Chains.  (Chapter  Six.)  Such  a  boulder  chain  extends  for  several 
miles  along  the  crest  of  the  Blanchard  Beach  between  Hillsboro  and 
Mayville. 

\Yhere  the  Fergus  Falls  and  Leaf  Hills  Moraines  are  crossed  by 
the  Red  River  between  Caledonia  and  Belmont,  occurs  what  are  called 
the  Goose  Rapids.  The  rapids  are  caused  by  the  dam  made  across  the 
river's  course  by  the  materials  of  the  moraines.  Boulders  are  so  numerous 
along  the  river  channel  here  that  boats  cannot  pass  in  time  of  low  water. 

The  next  increase  in  the  size  of  Lake  Agassiz  was  caused  by  the 
recession  or  melting  back  of  the  ice-sheet  to  the  position  of  the  Leaf 
Hills  Moraine. 

The  Leaf  Hills  Moraine  of  the  Minnesota  Glacier  is  marked  upon 
the  area  of  Lake  Agassiz  by  slight  undulations  in  the  prairie  surface, 


82  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

as  in  the  case  of  the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine.  The  two  moraines  run 
together  where  they  cross  the  Red  River  so  they  cannot  be  separated 
from  each  other.  From  near  the  Red  River  the  Leaf  Hills  Moraine 
extends  northeast  nearly  to  Red  Lake  in  Minnesota,  and  northwest 
along  the  east  side  of  the  Elk  Valley  Delta  east  of  Larimore,  and  con- 
tinues as  "The  Ridge"  and  farther  north  as  "The  Mountains"  on  the 
east  side  of  Elk  and  Golden  Valleys  to  Edinburg.  The  area  of  Lake 
Agassiz  will  therefore  be  seen  to  have  been  increased  by  two  triangu- 
lar areas,  the  larger  of  which  embraces  the  region  about  Mayville  and 
Portland  and  north  to  Arvilla  and  McCanna,  the  other  being  north  and 
east  of  Caledonia,  in  Minnesota. 

The  positions  of  the  Dakota  and  Minnesota  Glaciers  or  Lobes  of 
the  Great  Ice-Sheet  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Leaf  Hills  Mo- 
raine are  shown  in  Figure  20.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  was  the  Minnesota 
Glacier  which  covered  the  northern  part  of  the  Red  River  Valley  and 
formed  the  moraine  just  described. 

The  next  increase  in  the  size  of  Lake  Agassiz  is  very  marked.  It 
would  seem  as  though  the  climate  must  have  become  warmer  from 
some  cause,  for  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet  moved  back  or  receded  to\vards 
the  north  near  to  where  the  City  of  Winnipeg  now  stands.  Thus  all 
that  part  of  North  Dakota  which  was  covered  by  Lake  Agassi^  was 
now  relieved  of  its  burden  of  ice  and  was  covered  by  the  waters  of  the 
lake.  The  Dakota  Glacier  had  not  yet  melted  entirely  from  off  North 
Dakota.  The  moraines  which  are  crossed  by  the  Great  Northern  Rail- 
way between  Lakota  and  Devils  Lake  and  those  extending  across  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  State  between  Pembina  Mountain  and  Devils 
Lake  and  west  to  the  Turtle  Mountains  were  formed  at  later  stages 
than  the  Leaf  Hills  Moraine,  and  after  Lake  Agassiz  had  spread  over 
the  whole  Red  River  Valley  in  North  Dakota  and  Minnesota  from  Lake 
Traverse  to  near  the  City  of  Winnipeg.  These  moraines,  formed  dur- 
ing the  successive  stages  of  the  Dakota  Glacier  while  it  covered  this 
part  of  the  State,  belong  to  the  Itasca  Stage  of  the  Dakota  Glacier. 
The  Minnesota  Glacier  extended  as  far  south  as  Lake  Itasca  in  Minne- 
sota, and  formed  the  hills  which  hem  in  the  waters  of  that  and  other 
small  lakes  in  Minnesota. 

Still  another  period  occurred  when  the  forward  movement  of  the 
ice-sheet  was  not  so  rapid  as  the  melting,  and  Lake  Agassiz  extended 
still  farther  northward  to  the  southern  ends  of  Lakes  Winnipeg  and 
Manitoba,  and  eastward  nearly  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  west- 


GLACIAL   LAKE  AGASSIZ.  83 

ward  to  a  line  running  nearly  south  from  Lake  Manitoba  to  Pembina 
Mountain.  The  hills  forming  the  moraine  which  marked  the  position 
of  the  ice  at  this  stage  of  the  development  of  Lake  Agassiz  are  known 
as  the  Mesabi  Moraine. 

Finally  another  recession  of  the  ice,  due  probably  to  increased 
warmth  of  the  climate,  caused  the  areas  now  occupied  by  Lakes  Win- 
nipeg and  Manitoba  to  be  uncovered,  a  moraine  being  formed  along 
what  is  now  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  This  moraine  forms 
a  dam  which  still  prevents  the  drawing  off  of  the  waters  of  this  lake. 
Some  of  these  morainic  hills  which  are  partly  covered  by  the  waters  of 
this  lake  now  form  islands  along  its  eastern  side. 

Along  the  great  ice  wall  which  formed  the  northern  shore  of  Lake 
Agassiz  the  waters  were  probably  the  deepest  that  they  were  any- 
where in  the  entire  lake.  The  slope  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  which 
is  the  old  lake  bottom,  descends  from  Lake  Traverse  towards  the  north 
to  the  Nelson  River  outlet  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  a  distance  in  a  straight 
line  of  about  700  miles.  It  will  be  recalled  that  when  the  northern 
ice-shore  of  Lake  Agassiz  was  at  Caledonia  the  water  was  there  about 
275  feet  deep,  200  feet  at  Fargo,  and  about  100  feet  at  Breckenridge 
and  Wahpeton,  and  flowed  over  the  rim  of  the  basin  at  Lake  Traverse. 
When  the  lake  had  extended  as  far  north  as  the  present  mouth  of  the 
Red  River  at  Lake  Winnipeg  its  depth  was  650  feet;  over  the  northern 
end  of  Lake  Manitoba  about  525  feet;  and  when  the  morainic  hills 
which  hem  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Winnipeg  on  the  east  were  dumped 
from  the  melting  ice  they  were  left  in  water  from  600  to  700  feet  deep. 

The  great  depth  of  the  water  of  Lake  Agassiz  at  the  ice  front  on 
this  far  north  shore,  and  the  great  amount  of  material  deposited  as  a 
moraine  may  help  to  explain  why  Lake  Winnipeg  has  not  disappeared 
along  with  the  rest  of  Lake  Agassiz.  Deep  bodies  of  water  are  less 
readily  affected  by  storms  and  their  waves  are  less  active  in  eroding 
the  bottom  and  shores.  The  moraine  which  was  deposited  at  the  edge 
of  the  ice  therefore  remained  as  hills  below  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  they  were  not  leveled  down  when  the  waters  of  the  lake  were 
finally  lowered  by  the  melting  of  the  ice  farther  north.  This  range 
of  morainic  hills  therefore  remains  as  a  dam  holding  back  the  waters 
of  Lake  Winnipeg  and  the  sister  lakes,  Manitoba  and  Winnipegosis, 
this  group  of  lakes  being  the  last  vestige  of  the  great  Lake  Agassiz. 

During  all  the  time  in  which  Lake  Agassiz  was  extending  its  area 
the  waters  were  unable  to  flow  to  the  north  by  the  present  Nelson 


84  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

River  outlet  to  Hudson's  Bay  because  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  which 
barred  the  way.  This  still  lay  upon  the  land  between  the  present  Lake 
Winnipeg  and  Hudson's, Bay  and  probably  still  filled  the  basin  of  Hud- 
son's Bay.  The  waters  therefore  discharged  by  some  northeast- 
ern outlet  into  Lake  Superior.  The  length  of  Lake  Agassiz  from 
south  to  north  was  now  about  550  miles,  and  its  width  from  Red  Lake 
in  Minnesota  to  Larimore  in  North  Dakota  was  about  130  miles.  Its 
area  embraced  about  65,000  square  miles  in  Canada,  about  15,000 
square  miles  in  Minnesota,  and  about  6,500  square  miles  in  North 
Dakota. 

Into  this  vast  sheet  of  water  many  large  rivers  poured  their  waters, 
and  to  these  were  added  the  waters  from  the  melting  ice-sheet  which 
poured  directly  into  the  lake. 

The  melting  along  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet,  which  was  the  north 
shore  of  the  lake,  as  we  have  seen  caused  the  dumping  of  a  great 
amount  of  rock, — boulders,  gravel,  sand,  and  fine  silt,  into  the  lake, 
much  of  which  was  washed  away  and  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the 
lake.  The  rivers  also  brought  in  gravel,  sand,  and  fine  silt  in  great 
quantity  which  also  was  added  to  the  floor  materials  of  the  bot- 
tom. Some  of  these  streams  formed  deltas  at  their  mouths.  All  did 
not  form  deltas,  for  there  was  much  more  gravel,  sand,  and  silt  from 
the  melting  ice-sheet  delivered  to  some  of  these  streams  than  to  oth- 
ers. Those  which  carried  the  greatest  load's  of  earth  materials,  when 
they  reached  the  lake  shore  and  their  currents  were  slackened,  dropped 
their  burdens  and  so  formed  deltas. 

There  were  three  large  deltas  formed  on  the  west  side  of  Lake 
Agassiz  in  North  Dakota,  and  one  in  Manitoba.  Two  smaller  ones 
were  formed  on  the  east  side  in  Minnesota.  Those  in  North  Dakota 
were  formed  by  the  Sheyenne,  Elk,  and  Pembina  Rivers,  and  the  one 
in  Manitoba  by  the  Assiniboine  River.  The  two  in  Minnesota  were 
formed  by  the  Buffalo  and  Sand  Hill  Rivers.  These  deltas  all  bear  the 
names  of  the  streams  by  which  they  were  formed.  There  is  no  Elk 
River  now,  for  this  wras  a  glacial  river  only,  that  is,  its  waters  came  en- 
tirely from  the  melting  ice,  and  when  the  ice  had  all  melted  it  ceased 
to  be.  However,  its  old  valley  is  left,  and  the  delta  it  built,  as  we  shall 
see  later. 

The  lands  of  the  Valley  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North  are  the  most 
fertile  and  the  most  nearly  level  probably  in  the  world.  They  are  the 
most  fertile  because  the  fine  sediments  of  ground  up  limestone  and 


GLACIAL   LAKE  AGASSIZ. 


86  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

other  rocks  which  were  deposited  upon  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz 
make  a  most  productive  soil,  and  this  is  rendered  still  more  fertile  by 
the  black  organic  matter  which  gathered  while  the  waters  were  drying 
off  from  the  old  bottom.  It  is  the  most  nearly  level  large  tract  of 
land  in  the  world  probably,  because  of  the  leveling  action  of  the  waters 
of  the  vast  lake  which  covered  it. 

The  Red  River  Valley.  —  While  the  old  lake  bottom  is  nearly  level, 
there  are  some  uneven  parts  which  are  of  much  interest.  Ridges  of 
sand  and  gravel  extend  for  great  distances  along  the  level  prairie  on 
the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  Valley.  These  are  beach  ridges  or  off- 
shore sand-bars  piled  up  by  the  waves  of  the  lake.  But  the  shore  did  not 
remain  always  at  the  same  place,  and  a  margin  or  belt  of  land  was  left 
along  the  edge  which  was  not  covered  by  the  water.  What  had  been 
lake  bottom  became  lan/1.  ,  Where  the  waves  had  once  beaten  upon  the 
shore  and  left  long  ridgfes  of  sand  and  gravel  the  waters  ceased  to 
reach.  The  level  of  the  lake  had  become  lower,  and  the  shore  line  had 
moved  in  toward  the  center  or  axis  of  the  lake.  The  waves  therefore 
beat  upon  the  shore  at  a  lower  level,  and  a  beach  ridge  was  built  by 
the  waves,  marking  the  new  shore  line.  The  successive  levels  or 
stages  of  the  lake  are  marked  by  these  shore  lines  or  beach  ridges,  so 
that  the  old  bottom  of  the  lake  as  we  now  see  it  is  not  quite  level. 

Each  of  these  ridges  is  a  little  higher  from  the  center  or  axis  of  the 
lake  toward  the  shore. 

Lakes  often  build  up  off-shore  sand-bars  because,  when,  the  waves 
roll  in  toward  shore  carrying  and  rolling  over  the  bottom  sand,  earth, 
and  gravel,  these  materials  are  dropped  where  the  waves  "break"  -upon 
the  bottom.  Along  the  off-shore  line  where  the  "breakers"  are  formed 


^f 

TILL  ,  ^^^rrifeiA!V^r^-^-^??r^5^  T/U,  SLI6HTlYFffOO£O. 

' 


FIG.  41.    Typical  Section  Across  a  Beach  Ridge  of  Lake  Agassiz.    Scale,  100  feet  to  an  inch. 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

the  water  loses  a  good  deal  of  its  force,  the  sand  and  gravel  which  were 
being  carried  are  mostly  thrown  down,  and  a  "bar"  is  thus  built  up. 
To  this  off-shore  bar  layer  after  layer  is  added  till  it  is  built  up  as  high 
as  the  surface  of  the  water,  or  even  higher,  for  when  the  waves  roll  high 
during  storms,  ridges  of  sand  and  gravel  are  piled  up  higher  than  the 
surface  of  the  water,  sometimes  fifteen  to  twenty  feet.  In  these  ridges 


GLACIAL   LAKE  AGASSIZ. 


87 


gravel-  and  sand-pits  are  often  opened,  and  the  sand  and  gravel  are 
often  beautifully  arranged  and  assorted  in  layers. 

It  is  commonly  the  case  that  the  land  is  not  as  high  back  of,  or  on 
the  shore  side,  of  these  ridges.  Here,  when  the  waters  were  beating 
upon  the  shores  and  the  waves  were  driven  over  the  sand  and  gravel  of 
the  off-shore  bars,  was  a  lagoon,  a  place  where  the  water  which  was 
driven  over  the  ridge  formed  a  shallow  pool.  Such  places  are  often 
seen  on  the  prairies  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  and  the  soil  in  such  low 
places  is  generally  more  "heavy"  or  clayey,  and  not  infrequently 
marshy,  while  the  crest  of  the  ridge  is  sandy  or  gravelly  only  a  few 
rods  distant.  This  is  because  the  coarser  material  carried  by  the  waves 
was  thrown  down  when  the  waves  "broke"  upon  the  bar,  and  only  the 
finer  sediment,  such  as  forms  the  "heavier"  clayey  soil,  was  carried  over 
the  ridge  and  deposited  in  the  lagoon. 


FIG.  42.    Profile  Across  Beaches  at  and  near  Wheatland.    Horizontal  scale,  3  miles  to  an  inch. 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

A  cross  section  from  the  Red  River  to  the  outer  and  highest  shore 
therefore  shows  a  rise  by  steps  from  the  lower  land  along  the  river  to 
the  highest  shore  line.  Such  a  cross  section  from  Casselton  west  to 

Is 


1 II  * 

*   s  §  3 

S   » 


1000 


PIG.  43.    Section  Across  the  Red  River  Valley  on  the  Latitude  of  Breckenridge  and  Wahpeton. 
Horizontal  scale,  25  miles  to  an  inch.      U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 


88 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


pPPffrrTv, ".  :•"/.". "A/,<H  E  M  :.",",  :';';  ;  y«.  :> 


FIG.  44.    Section  Across  the  Red  River  Valley  at  Fargo.    After  Upham. 


FIG.  45,    Section  Across  the  Red  River  Valley  at  Grand  Forks.     After  Upliam. 


FIG.  46.    Section  Across  the  Red  River  Valley  near  International  Boundary.    After  Upham. 

the  highest  Herman  Beach  is  shown  in  Figure  42.  A  section  across 
a  beach  ridge  is  shown  in  Figure  41.  The  ridge  is  made  up  of  sand  and 
gravel  arranged  in  layers.  Underneath  the  ridge  is  the  boulder-clay 
called  "till,"  the  unstratified  drift  which  underlies  the  materials  nearer 
the  surface  which  were  arranged  in  layers  by  the  waters  of  the  lake. 

Sections  across  the  Red  River  Valley  at  Wahpeton,  Fargo,  Grand 
Forks,  and  along  the  International  Boundary,  are  shown  in  Figures 
43,  44,  45,  46.  These  sections  show  the  till  or  boulder-clay  under- 
lying the  wave-washed  materials,  and  underneath  the  till  the  layers  of 
the  stratified  rocks,  the  top  of  which  was  the  land  surface,  the  pre- 
glacial  landscape,  before  the  great  ice-sheet  spread  over  the  land. 

The  upper  portion  of  the  clay  which  makes  up  the  deeper  sub-soil 
of  the  Red  River  Valley  is  arranged  in  layers,  as  is  shown  in  Figure  47. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  upper  part  of  the  drift  clay  of  the  Red 


GLACIAL   LAKE   AGASSIZ. 


89 


River  Valley  was  deposited  in  the  water  and  spread  over  the  bottom 
of  Lake  Agassiz.  This  material  was  dropped  from  the  melting  ice 
while  the  ice-sheet  was  receding  and  the  lake  was  increasing  in  size, 
and  was  washed  by  the  waves  and  deposited  in  layers  upon  the  bottom. 


FIG.  47.    Stratified  Clay,  Sediments  of  Bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz.    Excavation  in  City  of  May  ville. 
Photograph  by  the  Author. 


CHAPTER  THE  NINTH. 

THE  DELTAS  AND  BEACHES  OF  LAKE  AGASSIZ. 

Three  deltas  were  formed  on  the  western  side  of  Lake  Agassiz  on 
that  part  of  the  bottom  now  embraced  in  North  Dakota.  These  are 
known  as  the  Sheyenne,  the  Elk  Valley,  and  the  Pembina  Deltas.  They 
were  formed  by  the  Sheyenne  River,  the  Glacial  Elk  River,  and  the 
Pembina  River.  These  rivers  were  flooded  by  the  waters  from  the  melt- 
ing ice-sheet,  and  when  their  swift  currents  entered  the  still  waters  of 
Lake  Agassiz  their  speed  was  checked  and  they  threw  down  the  burden 
of  materials  they  were  carrying,  the  coarse  gravel  and  sand  first,  and 
later  the  fine  sand  and  silt.  The  finer  sand  was  carried  for  many  miles 
into  the  lake  and  spread  out  as  a  great  fan,  and  the  finest  silt  was  spread 
over  all  the  bottom  of  the  lake,  being  distributed  by  the  waves  and 
currents. 

Not  all  the  streams  which  flowed  into  Lake  Agassiz  formed  deltas. 
It  is  interesting  to  inquire,  therefore,  why  the  Sheyenne  and  Pembina 
Rivers,  and  also  the  glacial  Elk  River,  which  ceased  to  be  a  river  at 
all  after  the  ice-sheet  had  melted  away,  should  have  formed  deltas, 
while  other  streams  flowing  into  Lake  Agassiz  formed  no  deltas. 

We  have  seen  that  much  earth  material  was  carried  by  the  ice,  and 
that  much  water  flowed  away  from  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet  from  the 
melting.  If  a  river  had  its  head  near  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet,  or 
flowed  along  its  edge  so  as  to  receive  these  waters,  then  whatever 
gravel,  sand,  and  earth  the  ice  contained  might  be  in  considerable  part 
carried  to  the  river.  Some  parts  of  the  ice-sheet  probably  carried  more 
gravel  and  sand  than  other  parts,  depending  upon  the  kind  of  land 
surface  it  had  passed  over.  Then,  too,  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet  was 
very  irregular  and  indented  by  jagged  places  made  by  the  melting,  and 
so  there  would  be  many  small  hollows  and  lakes  in  which  the  earth 
materials  from  the  ice  would  be  deposited,  so  that  not  all  the  streams 
which  flowed  at  flood-  height  from  along  the  ice-sheet's  edge  received 
such  great  burdens  of  gravel  and  sancj.  When,  therefore,  a  river  had 
its  head  near  a  portion  of  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet  where  a  good  deal 


THE  DELTAS  AND   BEACHES   OF  LAKE  AGASSIZ.  91 

of  sand  was  left  so  that  it  was  washed  into  the  river's  channel  this 
stream,  having  a  swift  current  because  its  channel  was  kept  flooded, 
would  carry  much  sand  and  gravel  down  its  course. 


FIG.  48.    Profile  of  Elk  Valley  Delta  and  Beaches  at  Larimore  and  Arvilla.    After  Upham. 

Again  the  Elk  River  was  a  stream  which  at  first  probably  flowed  on 
the  surface  of  the  ice-sheet  in  the  hollow  between  the  Dakota  and 
Minnesota  Glaciers  (see  Figure  20),  though  it  later  formed  a  channel  in 
the  drift  between  these  Lobes,  and  this  river  formed  a  delta  thirty  to 
thirty-five  miles  long  and  from  five  to  twelve  miles  wide. 

In  Minnesota,  of  the  rivers  entering  Lake  Agassiz,  only  the  Buffalo 
and  Sand  Hill  Rivers  formed  deltas,  although  the  Red  River,  the  Wild 
Rice  River,  and  the  Red  Lake  River,  on  that  side  of  the  lake  were  as 
large  or  even  larger  than  these. 

The  Sheyenne  Delta. — When  the  ice-sheet  had  receded  so  that  its 
edge  rested  upon  the  high  hills  south  of  Devils  Lake,  the  Sheyenne 
River  received  a  great  influx  of  water  from  the  melting  ice,  and  with 
it  the  finer  materials  which  were  in  the  ice.  These  were  carried  by 
the  stream  down  its  course.  The  water  was  muddy,  something  as  the 
waters  of  our  streams  now  are  muddy  after  a  hard  rain,  or  when  they 
are  swollen  from  melting  snows.  Not  only  this,  but  sand  and  gravel 
which  were  too  coarse  to  be  carried  any  distance  by  the  current  would 
be  rolled  along  the  bottom,  or  taken  up  and  carried  for  a  short  distance 
and  thrown  down  again,  perhaps  forming  a  sand-bar,  to  be  in  turn  taken 
up  and  carried  on  again  by  the  varying  current.  So  at  the  mouth  of 
the  stream  where  the  current  met  the  still  waters  of  the  lake  these  were 
thrown  down,  first  the  coarser  gravel  and  then  the  finer  sand.  These 
became  the  delta. 

Little  by  little  the  river  kept  adding  more  materials  to  the  delta,  the 
coarser  being  dropped  nearer  the  shore  or  head  of  the  delta,  the  finer 
being  carried  farther  out,  and  the  finest,  which  would  remain  in  sus- 
pension in  the  water  for  a  long  time,  being  carried  far  out  and  dis- 
tributed over  the  lake  bottom  as  the  so-called  lacustrine  silt. 


92 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


The  delta  is  made  up  mostly  of  sand  and  gravel  arranged  in  layers. 
\Yhoever  has  traveled  along  the  lower  Sheyenne  River  south  and  east 
of  the  Big  Bend  has  noticed  how  sandy  is  the  soil,  also  the  hills  along 
the  river  and  over  great  areas  farther  from  the  river.  The  sand  has 
been  blown  and  piled  into  heaps  by  the  wind,  forming  the  "dunes" 
which  are  a  conspicuous  landscape  feature. 

The  Sheyenne  Delta  covers  an  area  of  about  800  square  miles,  be- 
ing mostly  in  Ransom  and  Richland  Counties,  but  extending  also  into 
Cass  and  Sargent  Counties.  From  the  Big  Bend  eight  or  nine  miles 
below  Lisbon  the  Sheyenne  River  flows  north  for  ten  miles  along  the 
western  edge  of  the  delta,  then  flows  east  and  north  across  its  surface, 
leaving  the  delta  front  about  three  miles  south  of  Kindred.  The  town 
of  Sheldon  is  located  on  the  western  edge  of  the  delta  plain,  and  its 
western  edge  extends  from  here  north  about  three  miles  into  Cass 
County.  Thence  the  northern  edge  extends  eastward  a  little  to  the 
north  of  Leonard,  and  eastward  and  southward  near  Walcott,  Colfax, 
and  Barrett,  on  the  Great  Northern  Railway;  thence  south  to  Aloore- 
ton,  on  the  Milnor  branch  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  and  a  little 
east  of  Hankinson  to  the  Lightning's  Nest,  a  very  large  wind-blown 
sand-hill  or  dune.  The  southern  and  western  edge  of  the  delta  extends 
from  the  Lightning's  Nest  west  'and  north  by  Taylor,  Willard,  and 
Swan  Lakes,  to  a  point  about  four  miles  northeast  of  Ransom  in  Sar- 
gent County,  and  from  here  northwest  to  ^lilnor  and  the  bend  of  the 
Sheyenne  River.  Much  of  the  surface  of  the  delta  is  now  marked  by 
wind-blown  sand  piled  into  dunes  of  all  sizes  from  little  choppy  knolls 
two  to  four  feet  high  to  large  hills  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  high. 


FIG.  49.     Section  Across  the  Sheyenne  Delta.    After  Upliam. 

Along  the  northeastern  front  the  waves  of  Lake  Agassiz  cut  a  cliff 
or  bank,  so  that  in  approaching  the  delta  from  the  northeast  the  land- 
scape rises  suddenly  in  passing  from  the  adjoining  prairie  onto  the 
delta  plain  in  some  places  as  much  as  seventy-five  feet.  Figure  49 
shows  a  cross  section  of  the  delta  in  which  the  valley  of  the  Sheyenne 
River  is  shown  at  the  left,  and  near  this  the  Herman  Beach,  which 


THE   DELTAS   AND    BEACHES   OF    LAKE   AGASSIZ.  93 

marks  the  highest  level  of  Lake  Agassiz.  A  tract  of  dunes  more  than 
ten  miles  across  is  near  the  center  of  the  cut,  and  the  steep  delta  front 
sixty  to  seventy  feet  high  is  shown  at  the  right. 


FIG.  50.     D 


Figure  50  is  a  photograph  of  a  small  delta  which  was  formed  during 
a  single  night.  The  current  of  water  from  under  the  sidewalk  was 
slackened  as  it  poured  out  upon  the  low  flat  area  in  the  foreground, 
and  the  materials  carried  by  the  little  stream  were  thrown  down  layer 
upon  layer  in  the  same  manner  as  the  sand  and  gravel  of  which  the 
great  Sheyenne  Delta  is  composed. 

The  Pembina  Delta. — The  Pembina  Delta  was  formed  by  the  Pem- 
bina  River  after  the  ice-sheet  had  melted  back  so  as  to  leave  the  Pem- 
bina Mountain  uncovered,  the  delta  lying  along  the  foot  of  that  Moun- 
tain. The  delta  plain  rises  quite  abruptly  from  the  level  prairie  of  the 
valley  bottom  to  the  east,  and  is  locally  known  as  "First  Pembina 
Mountain."  It  covers  an  area  of  about  eighty  square  miles,  or  only 
about  one-tenth  of  that  of  the  Sheyenne  Delta.  Its  average  depth  is 
estimated  to  be  about  150  feet.  The  average  depth  of  the  Sheyenne 
Delta  is  estimated  to  be  about  forty  feet,  so  that  the  volume  of  the  Pem- 
bina Delta  is  more  than  one-third  that  of  the  great  Sheyenne  Delta. 
The  materials  of  which  the  Pembina  Delta  is  composed  are  not  only 
sand  and  gravel  brought  from  the  melting  ice-sheet,  but  shale  from 


94  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

the  underlying  rock-formations  of  Pembina  Mountain,  into  which  the 
river  has  cut  a  very  deep  valley,  and  also  pebbles  of  granite  and  other 
hard  rocks  up  to  six  inches  in  diameter.  Large  boulders  of  granite  lie 
upon  its  surface,  dropped  perhaps  from  blocks  of  floating  ice  from  the 
lake. 

The  delta  extends  from  the  foot  of  Pembina  Mountain  about  four 
miles  south  of  the  International  Boundary  east  and  a  little  south  to 
near  Walhalla,  thence  curving  south  and  east  to  its  widest  point,  and 
south  and  west  to  the  foot  of  Pembina  Mountain  again  a  mile  south 
of  Tongue  River,  being  about  eight  mile^  wide  at  its  widest  part.  Its 
western  boundary  thus  lies  along  the  foot  of  Pembina  Mountain.  Its 
highest  point  is  about  six  miles  southwest  of  Walhalla  and  a  little  more 
than  a  mile  south  of  the  Pembina  River.  It  is  here  1,270  feet  above 
sea-level.  The  highest,  or  Herman,  shore-line  of  Lake  Agassiz  is 
about  two  miles  east  of  this  point,  and  about  fifty  feet  lower.  This 
shows  that  the  river  piled  its  burden  of  sand,  gravel,  shale,  and  pebbles 
up  to  a  height  at  the  head  of  the  delta  greater  than  that  of  the  level  of 
the  lake.  The  surface  of  the  delta  slopes  gradually  to  the  north,  east, 
and  south  from  this  highest  point  or  head. 

Along  the  foot  of  the  delta  front  run  the  Norcross,  Tintah,  Camp- 
bell, and  McCauleyville  Beaches,  marking  the  height  of  the  waters  of 
Lake  Agassiz  during  those  stages  of  the  lowering  of  the  lake  imme- 
diately following  that  during  which  the  delta  was  formed, — the  highest 
or  Herman  Stage.  The  waves  of  the  lake  washed  against  the  front  or 
edge  of  the  delta  plateau  and  eroded  the  loose  materials,  forming  a 
steep  bank  or  wave  cliff  which  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  delta  is  more 
than  150  feet  high.  In  crossing  the  delta  from  the  level  prairie  east  of 
Walhalla  to  Olga,  about  twelve  miles  southwest,  after  crossing  well 
marked  McCauleyville  Beaches,  the  road  rises  suddenly  up  the  steep 
face  of  the  wave-washed  and  tree  covered  cliff  150  feet,  from  the  top 
'of  which  the  surface  of  the  delta  plain  spreads  out  as  a  great  undulat- 
ing plain  with  scattered  clumps  of  trees  here  and  there.  From  Beau- 
lieu  on  the  delta  plain  the  road  leads  up  the  steep  face  of  Pembina 
Mountain  (called  Second  Mountain,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  delta 
plateau  which  is  called  First  Mountain)  a  height  of  about  300  feet. 
The  outcropping  Cretaceous  shales  are  exposed  by  the  roadsides  and 
in  the  coulees,  and  drift  boulders  of  granite  are  scattered  upon  its  sides. 

\Yhere  the  Pembina  River  cuts  across  the  crest  of  Pembina  Moun- 
tain the  valley  has  been  cut  350  to  450  feet  into  the  soft  shales  and 


THE   DELTAS  AND   BEACHES   OF   LAKE  AGASSIZ. 


95 


clays  which  underlie  the  drift,  and  tributary  streams  which  have  also 
eroded  deep  valleys,  give  to  the  landscape,  which  is  covered  with  trees, 
a  wild  and  picturesque  appearance.  The  delta  plain  or  plateau  is  also 
much  cut  up  by  streams.  The  Pembina  and  Little  Pembina  Rivers 
have  cut  deep  gorges  in  the  delta,  even  cutting  down  into  the  till  which 
underlies  the  delta  and  on  which  it  was  built  upon  the  lake  bottom,  so 
that  a  section  through  the  150  feet  of  delta  sand  and  gravel  is  shown. 
The  Cretaceous  shales  and  clays  (these  belong  to  the  Fort  Pierre  group 
of  the  Cretaceous  series)  are  well  exposed  in  the  sides  of  the  valley  of 
the  Pembina  River  where  it  cuts  through  the  (Second)  Mountain,  and 


FIG.  51.    Section  SI 


the  Goose  River.    Photograph,  iqoo,  by  M.  B.  Erickson. 


:>n  by  Tributary  of 


96  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

farther  down  its  course  the  layers  of  the  delta  sands  and  gravels  are 
similarly  exposed. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  here  that  what  seems  to  be  a  small  "butte" 
stands  about  a  mile  north  of  the  northern  end  of  the  delta  and  three 
miles  south  of  the  International  Boundary,  a  half  mile  east  of  the  face 
of  Pembina  Mountain.  It  has  much  the  appearance  of  the  small 
rounded  buttes  of  the  Bad  Lands.  It  looks  from  a  distance  much  like 
a  large  haystack,  being  thinly  covered  with  grass.  Badger  holes  near 
its  top  and  on  its  sides  showed  clean  shale  such  as  that  of  the  Mountain. 
If  this  is  its  true  character  it  is  an  outlying  fragment  of  Pembina  Moun- 
tain, and  so  was  a  tiny  island  in  Lake  Agassiz  when  its  waters  washed 
the  eastern  face  of  the  Mountain.  It  is  interesting  also  as  being  the 
most  eastern  "butte"  in  the  State,  and  perhaps  in  the  United  States. 

The  Elk  Valley  Delta — The  Elk  Valley  Delta  covers  an  area  of  about. 
300  square  miles,  extending  from  McCanna  east  of  Larimore  and  south 
to  Mayville  and  Portland,  and  covering  the  area  west  to  the  shore  of 
Lake  Agassiz.  No  river  which  could  have  formed  this  delta  now 
exists.  The  stream  which  formed  it,  the  glacial  Elk  River,  is  no  more. 
The  reasons  for  thinking  that  such  a  stream  did  once  exist  are  found  in 
the  structure  of  the  delta  itself,  the  materials  of  which  it  is  composed, 
and  the  form  of  the  landscape  near  to  the  delta.  The  delta  is  higher 
north  of  Larimore  and  its  surface  slopes  gently  toward  the  south,  west, 
and  east,  as  though  the  "head"  or  place  where  the  materials  of  which 
it  is  composed  were  poured  into  the  lake  \tfas  at  this  point.  The  mate- 
rials making  up  this  delta  are  of  a  finer  character  than  those  of  the 
Sheyenne  and  the  Pembina  Deltas,  being  mostly  fine  sand  and'  silt 
brought  from  the  ice  of  the  great  ice-sheet,  and  are  not  mixed  with 
shale  gravels  from  the  Cretaceous  rocks  underneath  the  drift,  as  are 
those  of  the  other  deltas.  ,  And  then,  extending  north  from  Larimore 
and  McCanna,  just  where  a  river  ought  to  have  been  to  have  formed 
this  delta  as  it  is,  the  broad  flat  bottomed  valley  extending  for  more 
than  forty  miles  to  Edinburg  and  Gardar  is  what  is  known  in  its 
southern  portion  as  Elk  Valley  and  farther  north  as  Golden  Valley. 
It  is,  however,  all  one  valley,  varying  in  width  from  about  four  miles 
along  the  greater  part  of  what  is  called  Elk  Valley  to  two  miles  at  Ram- 
sey's Grove,  where  begins  the  part  called  Golden  Valley,  and  this  por- 
tion varies  in  width  from  one  to  two  miles. 

Figure  20  shows  the  positions  of  the  Dakota  and  Minnesota  Gla- 
ciers, or  lobes  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet,  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of 


THE   DELTAS   AND    BEACHES    OF   LAKE   AGASSIZ. 


97 


FIG.  52.    Angular  Outlines,  not  Passed  over  by  the  Ice-sheet. 
Photograph  by  Prof.  T.  C.  Chamberlin. 


FIG.  53.    Smooth  Outlines,  Showing  Effects  of  Moving  Ice. 
Photograph  by  Prof.  T  C.  Chamberlin. 


98  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

the  Elk  Valley  Delta.  At  this  time  the  Leaf  Hills  Moraine  was  formed 
at  the  edge  of  the  ice.  Remember  what  has  been  said  about  the  thick- 
ness of  the  ice-sheet,  and  that  the  surfaces  of  these  lobes  were  higher 
along  their  axes  or  centers  and  the  ice  thinner  near  the  edges.  The 
arrows  indicate  how  the  ice  spread  out  or  flowed  toward  the  south,  east, 
and  west,  near  the  southern  ends  of  the  lobes. 

There  was  melting  of  the  ice  on  the  surface  of  the  ice-sheet  as  well 
as  at  the  edge.  Water  would  therefore  collect  in  the  hollow  along  the 
line  where  the  two  lobes  met.  When  the  ice-sheet  reached  farther 
south,  as  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine,  the 
ice  extended  across  from  one  lobe  to  the  other,  in  the  region  shown  in 
Figure  20.  As  the  ice  melted  and  the  edge  came  to  be  farther  back  a 
hollow  came  to  be  upon  the  surface  of  the  ice-sheet.  At  the  time  the 
Leaf  Hills  Moraine  was  being  formed  a  large  stream  flowed  in  the  hol- 
low where  the  two  glaciers  met,  having  its  bottom  and  sides  of  ice. 
This  was  the  glacial  Elk  River. 

Soon  the  ice  valley  became  deeper  from  the  melting  due  to  the 
stream  and  from  the  melting  at  the  edges  of  the  lobes.  The  sand  and 
silt  which  were  elsewhere  left  at  the  edge  of  the  ice  as  moraines  were 
washed  away  by  the  swiftly  flowing  river.  This  was  added  to  the  ma- 
terial of  the  delta. 

In  time,  however,  this  glacial  river  came  to  flow  upon  the  ground 
between  the  two  glaciers,  being  kept  at  high  flood  by  the  waters  from 
the  melting  ice,  which  poured  in  from  botrKsides.  As  the  ice  of  the  two 
glacier  edges  on  each  side  of  the  hollow  kept  moving  toward  each 
other,  and  each  delivered  its  burden  of  sand  and  silt,  a  large  amount  of 
earth  material  was  left  along  the  course  of  the  stream  only  to  be  quickly 
carried  away  by  the  rapid  current  of  the  stream  which  was  constantly 
renewed  by  the  inpouring  of  waters  from  the  ice.  So  it  would  seem 
that  the  conditions  must  have  been  such  as  to  form  a  large  river  bur- 
dened with  a  great  load  of  earth,  and  when  the  still  waters  of  the  lake 
were  entered  a  delta  must  result. 


FIG.  54.    Profile  of  "  the  Ridge  "  and  Beaches  at  Inkster.    After  Upham. 


THE   DELTAS   AND    BEACHES    OF   LAKE   AGASSIZ.  99 

There  was,  however,  more  drift  piled  into  this  valley  from  the  melt- 
ing ice  than  could  be  carried  away  by  the  river.  The  west  side  of  the 
valley  is  the  highland  of  Cretaceous  rocks  which  formed  the  western 
boundary  of  Lake  Agassiz.  Along  the  top  of  this  highland  was  left  the 
Leaf  Hills  Moraine  of  the  Dakota  Glacier.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
valley  the  Minnesota  Glacier  piled  its  moraine,  a  chain  of  hills  which  is 
nowr  locally  known  in  its  southern  portion  as  "The  Ridge"  and  the 
northern  part  as  "The  Mountains."  This  chain  of  hills  extends  from 
McCanna  north  to  Edinburg,  a  distance  of  about  thirty-five  miles.  "The 
Ridge"  is  a  series  of  three  morainic  hills  from  one  to  three  miles  in 
length  and  from  a  half  mile  to  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  width.  "The 
Mountains"  are  two  long,  large  hills,  one  about  six  miles  long,  lying 
west  of  Conway,  the  other  about  fourteen  miles  long  and  two  to  three 
miles  wide,  lying  west  of  Park  River  and  extending  north  to  Edin- 
burg. 

After  the  Leaf  Hills  stage  of  Lake  Agassiz,  when  the  ice-sheet  had 
receded  to  the  position  of  the  Itasca  Moraine,  this  chain  of  hills  formed 
islands  in  Lake  Agassiz,  and  the  valley  of  the  Elk  River  was  a  great 
sound  or  strait  between  these  islands  and  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake.  This  is  shown  by  the  beach  ridges  which  mark  the  height  of  the 
water  on  the  sides  of  the  islands  and  the  west  shore  of  Elk  Valley. 
Figures  54  and  55  show  profiles  across  the  Elk  and  Golden  Valleys, 
the  Ridge  and  the  Mountains,  and  the  upper  beaches  of  the  Lake. 


FIG.  55.    Profile  across  Beaches  at  Park  River  and  Westward. 
Horizontal  scale,  3  miles  to  an  inch.    After  Upham. 

The  northern  mountain  is  crossed  by  the  south  branch  of  Park 
River,  west  of  the  city  of  Park  River,  in  a  well-marked  valley.  Farther 
south  to  the  west  of  Conway  and  Inkster  is  a  gap  two  or  three  miles 
wide  between  the  southern  mountain  and  the  northern  hill  of  the  ridge. 
The  three  branches  of  Forest  River  send  their  waters  through  this  gap 
after  they  have  united  into  one  stream,  cutting  across  the  beach  ridges 


100  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

which  extend  along  the  east  side  of  the  chain  of  hills.  West  of  Orr  the 
ridge  is  broken  in  two,  but  Lost  Creek,  which  is  formed  by  several 
small  tributaries  from  the  higher  land  west  of  the  shore  of  Lake  Agas- 
siz,  fails  to  flow  across  but  becomes  "lost"  on  the  flat,  marshy  prairie — 
the  old  sand  and  silt  bottom  of  the  Elk  Valley. 

Between  these  islands  were  straits  or  necks  of  water  connecting  the 
main  lake  with  the  large  sound  west  of  the  islands.  The  bottom  of 
Elk  and  Golden  Valleys  is  a  level  tract  forty  miles  in  length  and  from 
one  to  four  miles  in  width  with  no  stream  on  its  bottom  representing 
the  great  Elk  River  which  once  surged  down  its  course  and  built  the 
broad  delta  at  its  mouth.  It  has  so  little  slope  that  no  stream  flaws 
upon  the  level  bottom  for  more  than  a  few  miles.  In  fact,  Lost  Creek, 
after  it  enters  the  flat  bottom  of  this  valley,  struggles  toward  the  north 
instead  of  south  in  the  direction  of  the  Elk  River,  and  after  two  or 
three  miles  gives  up  and  becomes  a  marsh.  West  of  the  northern 
mountain  several  small  streams  flow  into  the  valley  from  the  highland 
to  the  west  and  become  "lost,"  spreading  out  into  a  marsh. 

The  Pembina  Delta  was  formed  after  the  ice  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet 
had  melted  back  so  that  Lake  Agassiz  extended  north  beyond  the 
International  Boundary  to  the  city  of  Winnipeg,  but  the  lake  remained 
at  about  the  same  level,  for  the  same  beaches  which  run  across  the 
eastern  side  and  along  the  front  of  the  Elk  Valley  Delta  also  cross  the 
eastern  side  and  run  along  the  steep  front  of  the  Pembina  Delta.  And 
the  Herman  Beach,  which  marks  the  highest  \level  of  the  lake,  runs 
along  the  western  or  shore  side  of  both  deltas.  And  similarly  the  Nor- 
cross,  Tintah  and  Campbell  Beaches  run  across  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Sheyenne  Delta,  and  the  McCauleyville  Beach  along  its  front,  while 
the  Herman  Beach  runs  near  its  western  or  shore  side.  The  highest 
or  Herman  stage  of  Lake  Agassiz  therefore  continued  during  the  sev- 
eral stages  of  "retreat"  or  melting  of  the  ice-sheet,  which  are  marked 
by  the  Dovre,  Fergus  Falls,  Leaf  Hills  and  Itasca  Moraines.  The 
stages  of  Lake  Agassiz  should,  therefore,  not  be  confused  with  the 
stages  of  retreat  or  melting  of  the  ice-sheet. 

Stages  and  Beaches.— It  has  been  previously  explained  how  Lake 
Agassiz  came  into  existence  by  the  hemming  in  of  the  waters  of  the 
melting  ice-sheet  by  the  higher  lands  which  formed  the  sides  of  a  great 
pre-glacial  valley.  These  formed  the  shore  boundaries  of  the  lake  on 
the  east,  west  and  south,  while  the  great  wall  of  ice  formed  its  northern 
shore.  Since  the  lowest  place  in  the  rim  of  the  surrounding  highlands 


THE   DELTAS  AND   BEACHES   OF   LAKE  AGASSIZ.  101 

was  at  the  south  here  was  established  the  first  outlet.  And  the  waters 
must  needs  find  escape  to  the  sea  to  the  south  because  the  great  ice- 
sheet  prevented  any  drainage  toward  the  north.  The  first  great  stage 
of  the  lake  was  begun  when  the  ice  had  melted  back  to  the  position  of 
the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine.  During  this  time  the  highest  beach  or 
shore  line,  known  as  the  Herman  Beach,  began  to  be  formed.  As  has 
been  before  explained  the  Sheyenne  Delta  began  to*  be  built  up  as  soon 
as  the  lake  began,  and  its  level  had  not  changed  much  when  the  Elk 
Valley  and  Pembina  Deltas  were  formed.  The  outlet  of  the  lake  was 
across  the  soft  drift  materials  of  the  Dovre  Moraine.  Lake  Traverse 
now  lies  in  the  north  end  of  the  old  outlet  channel,  near  the  southeast 
corner  of  North  Dakota  and  on  the  boundary  between  the  states  of 
South  Dakota  and  Minnesota.  The  lake  grew  larger  by  the  melting 
of  the  ice-sheet,  or  the  "retreating"  of  the  ice-wall  which  formed  the 
northern  shore.  The  water  remained  at  the  same  height  during  all  the 
time  the  lake  was  increasing  in  size,  the  outlet  channel  being  cut  down 
during  the  time  five  or  ten  feet. 

The  beach  which  marks  the  next  lower  stage  or  level  of  the  lake  is 
the  Norcross.  At  the  time  this  beach  was  formed  the  level  of  the  lake 
was  about  twenty  feet  lower  than  during  the  time  of  the  formation  of 
the  Herman  Beach,  the  outlet  having  been  cut  down  this  amount.  The 
lake  stood  at  this  level  for  quite  a  long  time,  as  is  shown  by  the  well- 
defined  shore  lines  or  beaches.  Then  the  outlet  was  cut  down  again 
about  fifteen  feet,  causing  a  lowering  of  the  lake  this  much  below  the 
Norcross  stage.  At  this  level  the  higher  of  two  Tintah  Beaches  was 
formed,  followed  by  another  lowering  of  the  water-level  of  about  fifteen 
feet  and  the  forming  of  the  lower  Tintah  Beach.  Again  the  level  of  the 
water  was  lowered  about  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  and  the  Campbell  Beach 
was  formed.  And  finally  about  the  same  amount  of  cutting  down  of 
the  outlet  brought  the  level  to  the  lowest  stage  while  yet  the  waters 
escaped  to  the  south,  the  McCauleyville  Beach  being  formed  at  this 
lowest  level.  Thus  a  beach  was  formed  at  each  stage  of  the  lake. 

The  names  of  these  beaches  are  a  little  awkward,  and  have  no  mean- 
ing except  that  they  are  names.  They  were  applied  to  the  beaches 
from  towns  which  are  built  upon  the  beaches  or  which  are  near  to  them. 
The  five  names  applied  to  the  higher  beaches  of  the  lake  are  the  names 
of  towns  in  Minnesota.  Other  and  lower  beaches  were  named  from 
towns  in  North  Dakota  and  Manitoba,  as  the  Blanchard,  the  Hills- 


102  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

boro,  Emerado,  etc.,  in  North  Dakota,  and  Gladstone,  Burnside,  etc., 
in  Manitoba. 

The  next  lower  stage  than  the  McCauleyville  was  about  twenty 
feet  below  the  bottom  of  the  southern  outlet  channel,  and  the  melting 
of  the  ice  at  the  north  had  allowed  the  waters  to  find  escape  by  another 
outlet.  At  this  time  were  formed  the  Blanchard  Beaches,  and  it  is 
known  as  the  Blanchard  stage  of  the  lake.  The  outlet  was  probably 
to  the  northeast,-  the  waters  escaping  into  Lake  Superior,  thence  to 
Lake  Ontario,  and  by  way  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  the  Hudson 
River  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  ice  had  not  yet  melted  off  from  the 
Valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  hence  escape  of  the  waters  by  that 
course  was  impossible. 

It  was  noted  above  that  during  the  time  of  the  forming  of  the  Her- 
man Beach  the  outlet  channel  was  cut  down  only  five  or  ten  feet,  al- 
though the  water  stood  for  a  considerable  time  at  this  level.  Then  while 
the  outlet  was  being  cut  down  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  no  shore  line  what- 
ever was  formed.  While  the  water  stood  at  this  second  level,  the  Nor- 
cross  stage,  another  beach  was  formed.  Again  the  outlet  cut  down 
rapidly,  leaving  no  beach  ridges  on  the  shores  because  the  water  did 
not  stand  at  any  one  level  long  enough  for  the  waves  to  pile  up  a  shore 
ridge.  This  is  the  upper  beach  of  the  Tintah  stage.  Again  the  outlet 
deepens  suddenly  while  no  shore  lines  are  formed,  and  then  the  water 
stands  at  the  second  level  of  the  Tintah  stage  while  the  lower  Tintah 
beach  is  forming.  Then,  still  again  is  the  outlet  cut  down  rapidly  to 
the  Campbell  stage,  and  the  Campbell  Beach.  "And  finally  another 
lowering  of  the  outlet  to  the  McCauleyville  stage,  when  the  last  beach 
was  formed  while  the  waters  discharged  by  the  southern  outlet. 

But  the  next  level  of  the  lake  is  below  the  bottom  of  the  outlet.  It 
was  not,  then,  the  cutting  down  of  the  outlet  channel  which  caused 
these  changes  of  level  of  the  lake,  for  this  outlet  could  not  drain  the 
lake  below  its  own  bottom.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  some  other 
outlet  had  been  found  for  the  waters  at  a  lower  point  in  the  rim  of  the 
lake.  This  occurred  when  the  ice  melted  back  at  the  north  so  as  to  un- 
cover a  lower  place  in  the  surrounding  highlands  which  kept  the  waters 
hemmed  in.  This,  however,  does  not  explain  why  the  lake  stood  at 
certain  levels  long  enough  for  the  waves  to  build  up  distinct  beach 
ridges  while  the  outlet  was  cut  down  but  little,  and  then  the  outlet  cut 
down  so  rapidly  that  the  waves  left  no  shore  marks  at  all. 

The  outlet  was  changed  and  the  old  River  Warren  became  an  aban- 


THE   DELTAS   AND   BEACHES   OF   LAKE   AGASSIZ. 


103 


doned  channel.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  those  beaches  which 
were  formed  after  the  McCauleyville  stage,  the  lowest  stage  while  the 
waters  were  drained  to  the  south  by  the  River  Warren,  run  across  the 
axis  or  central  part  of  the  old  lake  bottom  (where  is  now  the  Red 
River  of  the  North)  instead  of  running  down  along  either  side  of  the 
old  channel,  as  do  the  McCauleyville  and  the  higher  beaches. 


iv 


FIG.  56.    During  the  Higher  Stages  the  Lake  Outflowed  Southward.    The  Lower  Beaches 
Cross  the  Red  River  of  the  North. 

Figure  56  shows  the  relation  of  the  higher  beaches  formed  while 
the  lake  discharged  toward  the  south  and  the  first  two  (Blanchard) 
beaches  formed  after  the  lake  had  ceased  to  overflow  southward  and 
had  formed  a  lower  outlet  into  Lake  Superior. 

The  explanation  of  these  rather  remarkable  things  is  somewhat  dif- 
ficult, and  those  who'  do  not  care  to  attempt  to  follow  it  may  omit  the 
next  few  pages. 

Causes  of  These  Changes. — The  cause  of  these  changes  of  level  of  the 
lake  is  a  somewhat  difficult  one  to -understand.  It  is  no  less  a  matter 
than  changes  in  the  form  of  the  earth's  crust,  changes  in  the  altitude  or 
level  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  itself.  It  has  been  observed  that  in  fol- 


104 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


lowing  the  beach  lines  from  south  to  north  that  they  are  not  simple  or 
single  ridges  at  the  north  as  they  are  in  their  southern  parts,  but  they 
become  double  and  multiple  as  they  are  followed  northward.  The  Her- 
man Beach,  for  instance,  which  is  a  single  ridge  in  its  southern  portion, 
becomes  five  distinct  beaches  near  Maple  Lake  in  Minnesota,  and  still 
farther  north  in  Manitoba  becomes  seven  distinct  beaches.  And  simi- 
lar facts  are  observed  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake.  The  five  beaches 
near  Maple  Lake  are  separated  from  each  other  by  vertical  distances 


FIG.  57.    Map  of  Portion  of  the  Herjnan  and  Nor  cross  Beaches,  near  Maple  Lake,  Minn.,  showing 

the  Multiple  Character  Northward.     The  five  Herman  Beaches  become  one  Beach, 

and  the  four  Norcross  Beaches  one. 

of  eight,  fifteen,  thirty  and  forty-five  feet;  that  is,  the  highest  Herman 
Beach  is  there  eight  feet  higher  than  the  next  lower,  that  is,  fifteen  feet 
higher  than  the  next  lower  than  this,  making  the  highest  twenty-three 
feet  above  the  third  one,  and  this  third  one  in  turn  is  thirty  feet  higher 
than  the  fourth,  making  fifty-three  feet  from  the  highest  to  the  fourth 
lower,  and  the  fourth  is  forty-five  feet  higher  than  the  fifth,  so  that 
the  first  or  highest  is  ninety-eight  feet  higher  than  the  fifth  or  lowest. 
And  all  these  merge  into  the  one  single  Herman  Beach  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  lake.  Similarly  the  Norcross  Beach,  which  is  a  single 


THE   DELTAS   AND    BEACHES   OF   LAKE   AGASSIZ. 


105 


If  I 

15 


FlG.  58.     Diagram  Showing  the  Progressive  Elevation  of  Beaches  Northward  in  Vicinity  of  Maple 

Lake,  Minn.    Continue  the  lines  to  the  right  and  the  upper  five  meet  in 

one,  and  the  lower  four  in  one. 

beach  ridge  in  the  southern  portion,  becomes  double  at  the  north,  as 
does  also  the  Tintah,  while  the  Campbell  and  McCauleyville  Beaches 
each  become  separated  into  three  distinct  ridges  at  the  north. 

The  five  stages  of  the  lake,  while  it  discharged  its  waters  by  the 
southern  outlet,  are  represented  in  the  southern  portion  by  the  five 
beaches  named,  the  Herman,  Norcross,  Tintah,  Campbell  and  McCau- 
leyville. These  five  beaches  in  the  south  are  represented  by  seventeen 
beaches  in  the  north.  The  highest,  or  Herman  Beach,  near  the  old  out- 
let at  Lake  Traverse,  is  about  90  feet  higher  than  the  lowest  or  Mc- 
Cauleyville Beach,  while  the  vertical  distance  between  the  highest  of 
the  Herman  beaches,  300  miles  to  the  north,  and  the  lowest  McCauley- 
ville Beach  is  nearly  300  feet.  In  traversing  these  beaches  from  south 
toward  the  north  it  is  observed  that  they  rise  gradually  northward. 
They  were  formed  at  the  water's  edge  and  were  therefore  in  the  first 
place  level.*  The  ascent  or  rise  is  more  gradual  toward  the  south  and 
more  rapid  toward  the  north.  The  uplift  of  the  crust  of  the  earth  was, 
therefore,  going  on  at  the  time  Lake  Agassiz  was  here  and  forming  the 
beaches,  and  it,  the  uplift,  was  greater  toward  the  north. 

The  movement  of  elevation  of  the  country  at  Lake  Traverse  during 
the  time  of  formation  of  the  five  beaches  while  Lake  Agassiz  outflpwed 
to  the  south  was  about  ninety  feet.  On  the  International  Boundary  at 
Pembina  Mountain  it  was  265  feet.  At  Gladstone,  in  Manitoba,  about 
350  feet,  and  200  miles  north  of  the  International  Boundary  on  the  east 
side  of  Duck  Mountain,  nearly  500  feet. 

*  The"  surface  of  the  lake  was  not  perfectly  level,  for  the  waters  were  drawn 
by  the  attraction  of  the  great  mass  of  ice  toward  the  north,  making  the  water  "pile 
up"  toward  the  north,  and  hence  the  shore  lines  would  rise  a  little  in  going  north, 
but  for  our  study  they  may  be  considered  as  horizontal. 


106  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

To  explain  these  remarkable  changes  of  level  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
sider a  somewhat  difficult  geological  problem,  that  of  the  changes  of 
level  of  the  earth's  crust  before  referred  to.  This  is  the  rising  in  one 
place  and  sinking  in  another,  over  large  areas,  or  regional  elevation  and 
subsidence,  called  "epeirogenic  movements,"  of  the  crust  of  the  earth. 

That  the  form  of  the  earth's  outer  layers  or  "crust"  is  not  fixed  or 
"solid"  is  a  well  established  fact.  The  sea  creeps  upon  the  land,  or 
withdraws  from  the  shore  as  the  land  rises  or  sinks,  very  slowly,  to  be 
sure,  but  none  the  less  truly.  The  movement  is  more  easily  recognized 
at  the  seashore  because  the  sea-level  forms  a  convenient  base-line  for  mak- 
ing comparisons.  It  is  thought  that  the  great  basin  in  which  Hudson's 
Bay  lies  is  being  uplifted  at  the  present  time,  probably  a  continuation 
of  the  same  great  movement  by  which  the  beaches  of  Lake  Agassiz 
were  lifted  out  of  their  level  positions.  This  uplift  of  the  basin  of  Hud- 
son's Bay  has  been  estimated  to  be  from  five  to  ten  feet  in  a  century.* 

If  the  great  weight  of  the  vast  ice-sheet  caused  the  crust  of  the 
earth  to  bend  down  or  sink,  then  the  melting  of  the  ice  and  the  flowing 
away  of  the  water  would  relieve  the  pressure  and  so  allow  it  to  rise 
again.  The  ice  was  deeper  at  the  north  and  the  rise  of  the  land,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  much  greater  at  the  north. 

The  Herman  stage  of  Lake  Agassiz  represents  that  period  of  the 
lake  during  which  all  the  beaches  at  the  north  which  unite  into  the 
one  Herman  Beach  near  the  outlet  at  Lake  Traverse  were  formed. 
But  during  all  this  time  the  water  was  pouring  out  at  the  Lake  Traverse 
outlet  without  cutting  the  channel  down  very  much,  w^hich  means  that 
the  current  was  not  very  swift  at  the  outlet.  The  elevation  at  the  north 
may  be  likened  to  the  slow  tipping  of  a  broad  pan  or  dish  filled  with 
water  so  as  to  just  keep  the  water  steadily  flowing  out  at  the  side. 
But  then  there  followed  a  more  sudden  and  widespread  elevation  which 
affected  the  whole  area  of  the  lake.  The  whole  basin  was  lifted  up, 
which  had  the  effect  to  increase  the  rate  of  flow  of  water  at  the  outlet, 
and  so  the  channel  was  cut  down  rapidly  to  the  level  of  the  next  stage 
of  the  lake,  the  Norcross  stage. 

Here  the  same  process  was  repeated,  the  outlet  staying  just  about' 
the  same  during  the  time  that  the  several  Norcross  Beaches  were  being 
formed  at  the  north.  These  beaches,  like  those  of  the  Herman  stage, 
unite  into  one  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  lake,  showing  that  the 

*  Dr.  Robert  Bell. 


THE   DELTAS   AND   BEACHES   OF   LAKE   AGASSIZ.  107 

uplift  during  this  stage  did  not  extend  to  the  southern  end  of  the  lake. 
The  close  of  the  Norcross  stage  is  marked  by  another  comparatively 
sudden  uplift  of  the  whole  lake  bottom,  followed  again  by  the  rapid 
cutting  down  of  the  outlet  channel. 

This  series  of  changes,  viz.,  the  uplifting  of  the  northern  portion 
of  fhe  lake  area  during  the  time  of  each  stage  while  the  outlet  remained 
at  'just  about  the  same  depth,  followed  by  a  somewhat  sudden  uplifting 
of  the  whole  region  of  the  lake  so  that  the  water  passing  through  the 
outlet  channel  increased  in  speed  so>  as  to  cut  down  its  depth  a  consider- 
able amount,  to  the  level  marking  the  next  lower  stage,  continued  dur- 
ing the  five  great  stages  while  the  outlet  remained  at  the  south.  The 
two  Tintah  Beaches  at  the  southern  outlet  mark  substages,  there  being 
a  lowering  of  the  outlet  between  the  two  periods  of  the  Tintah  stage 
when  the  two*  beaches  were  formed. 

Finally,  at  the  close  of  the  McCauleyville  or  lowest  stage  of  the  lake 
while  the  outlet  remained  at  the  south  the  uplifting  of  the  bottom  coin- 
cided with  the  uncovering  of  a  place  in  the  rim  of  the  lake  lower  than 
the  bottom  of  the  Lake  Traverse  outlet,  and  so  the  outlet  was  changed 
to  the  northeast. 

The  several  beaches  at  the  north  which  belong  to  one  stage  and 
which  unite  to  form  one  at  the  south,  mark  intervals  of  quiet -or  pauses 
in  the  uplifting  which  affected  the  more  northern  region  only  and  not 
the  whole  area  of  the  lake.  This  means  that  the  uplifting  was  progres- 
sively greater  toward  the  north. 

The  succeeding  beaches,  which  mark  the  stages  of  the  lake  after 
the  water  had  ceased  to  be  discharged  by  the  southern  outlet,  are  three 
Blanchard  Beaches,  representing  three  stages  of  the  lake,  each  being 
lower  than  the  preceding,  the  first  being  fifteen  feet  lower  than  the 
McCauleyville  Beach,  the  second  twenty  feet  lower  than  the  first,  the 
third  fifteen  feet  lower  than  the  second,  the  Hillsboro  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  lower  still,  the  Emerado  thirty  feet,  the  Ojata  twenty-five  feet,  the 
Gladstone  twenty  feet,  the  Burnside  twenty  feet,  the  Ossawa  fifteen 
feet,  the  Stonewall  twenty  feet,  the  Niverville  forty-five  feet,  and  from 
the  Niverville  Beach  still  another  fall  of  forty-five  feet  reaches  the 
earliest  level  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  the  cutting  down  of  the  Nelson 
River  outlet  has  lowered  Lake  Winnipeg  still  further  twenty  feet. 

Let  us  now  briefly  review  the  history  of  Lake  Agassiz.  The  lake 
first  began  as  a  body  of  water  from  one  to  three  miles  wide  and  about 
thirty  miles  long,  and  was  little  more  than  a  broadening  of  the  Shey- 


108  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

enne  River.  The  melting  back  of  the  ice-sheet  to  the  position  of  the 
Fergus  Falls  Moraine  increased  the  size  of  the  lake  and  the  first  and 
highest  Herman  stage  of  the  lake  was  ushered  in.  When  the  ice 
melted  back  to  the  position  of  the  Leaf  Hills  Moraine  it  became  still 
larger;  and  again  the  rapid  recession  of  the  ice  to  the  Itasca  Moraine 
increased  its  area  still  further.  And  when  the  Mesabi  Moraine  was 
formed  the  lake  extended  to  the  southern  ends  of  Lakes  Winnipeg  and 
Manitoba,  and  still  later  embraced  all  the  vast  territory  adjacent  to 
these  lakes.  Most  of  the  melting  away  of  the  ice  occurred  during  the 
time  of  the  formation  of  the  Herman  and  Norcross  Beaches,  as  these 
beaches  have  been  traced  from  Maple  Lake,  Minnesota,  south  to  Lake 
Traverse,  and  north  through  North  Dakota  to  Duck  Mountain  in 
Manitoba,  a  distance  of  more  than  700  miles. 

The  deltas  which  have  been  described,  the  Sheyenne,  Elk  Valley 
and  Pembina,  and  also  the  Buffalo  and  Sand  Hill  Deltas  in  Minnesota, 
and  the  great  Assiniboine  Delta  in  Manitoba,  were  formed  mostly  dur- 
ing this  earlier  time  of  the  lake,  as  they  are  crossed  by  the  Herman 
and  Norcross  Beaches,  whereas  the  others  which  mark  lower  levels 
of  the  lake  mostly  pass  around  them,  leaving  them  to  the  landward. 

The  changes  in  level  of  the  lake  were  caused  by  changes  in  the  form 
of  the  earth's  crust,  an  uplifting  of  the  floor  of  the  lake  causing  more 
rapid  cutting  down  of  the  outlet  and  draining  away  of  the  water,  the 
successive  stages  or  levels  of  the  lake  being  marked  by  shore  lines  or 
beach  ridges.  The  northern  portion  was  uplifted  more  than  the  south- 
ern portion,  as  is  shown  by  the  beaches  which  become  double  and  mul- 
tiple at  the  north.  Finally  the  floor  of  the  lake  was^  uplifted  so  that 
escape  of  the  waters  by  the  southern  outlet  was  cut  off  and  the  waters 
overflowed  to  the  northeast,  the  ice  melting  at  the  north  so  as  to  allow 
the  waters  to  escape  by  a  new  outlet  at  the  same  time  the  outlet  to  the 
south  was  elevated.  Successive  stages  in  the  level  of  the  lake  are  marked 
by  beaches. 

At  the  time  of  formation  of  the  Gladstone  Beach  the  southern  point 
of  the  lake  was  about  as  far  south  as  Buxton,  the  Red  River  of  the 
North  flowing  into  the  lake  there.  The  western  shore  of  the  lake  in 
North  Dakota  is  marked  by  the  Gladstone  Beach  west  of  Grafton  and 
Minto.  At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Niverville  Beach  the  lake 
did  not  extend  south  of  the  International  Boundary,  and  the  Red  River 
of  the  North  flowed  into  the  lake  near  Morris,  Manitoba,  twenty-five 
miles  north  of  Neche  and  Pembina.  The  entire  area  covered  by  Lake 


THE   DELTAS  AND   BEACHES   OF   LAKE   AGASSIZ.  109 

Agassiz  was  about  110,000  square  miles,  or  an  area  equal  to  more  than 
one  and  a  half  times  the  whole  State  of  North  Dakota,  and  the  greater 
part  of  this  vast  expanse  was  covered  during  the  highest  or  Herman 
stage  of  the  lake.  The  depth  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Agassiz  above  the 
present  surface  of  the  south  end  of  Lake  Winnipeg  during  its  higher 
Herman  stages  was  about  600  feet.  At  the  time  the  waters  ceased  to 
discharge  by  the  southern  outlet  and  began  to  overflow  toward  the 
northeast  the  depth  at  this  point  was  about  300  feet.  At  the  time  of 
the  Nfverville  stage,  the  last  before  the  waters  fell  to  the  highest  level 
of  Lake  Winnipeg,  the  depth  was  about  sixty-five  feet.  Finally  the  ice 
disappeared,  uncovering  the  present  Nelson  River  outlet  and  the 
waters  lowered  to  the  highest  level  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  then  by  the 
cutting  down  of  the  Nelson  River  channel  the  waters  were  lowered  to 
the  present  level  of  Lakes  Winnipeg,  Manitoba  and  Winnipegosis, 
which  remain  as  a  last  vestige  of  the  once  great  Lake  Agassiz. 


CHAPTER    THE    TENTH. 
OTHER   EXTINCT   GLACIAL   LAKES. 

Glacial  Lake  Souris.— Glacial  Lake  Souris  occupied  the  Valley  of  the 
Souris,  or  Mouse  River,  from  which  river  it  gets  its  name.  It  was 
formed  by  the  waters  from  the  melting  ice-sheet,  as  was  Lake  Agassiz, 
and,  like  that  lake,  had  the  wall  of  ice  for  its  northern  shore,  the  ice 
acting  as  a  dam  preventing  the  escape  of  the  waters  northward. 

After  the  ice  had  melted  back  from  the  position  of  the  First  or  Al- 
tamont  Moraine,  the  waters  began  to  fill  the  basin  between  the  higher 
land  along  the  eastern  front  of  the  great  Missouri  Plateau,  the  Coteau 
du  Missouri,  and  the  edge  of  the  ice.  The  First  or  Altamont  Moraine 
lies  on  the  top  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  great  plateau,  extending  in 
a  northwest  and  southeast  direction  across  Ward  and  McHenry 
Counties,  being  crossed  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway  between  Tagus 
(Wallace)  and  Palermo,  the  distance  between  these  stations  represent- 
ing the  width  of  the  Moraine.  West  of  Balfour  and  Anamoose  the 
high  hills  of  the  Second  or  Gary  Moraine  appear,  marking  the  second 
halting  place  of  the  edge  of  the  Dakota  Glacier  or  lobe  of  the  ice-sheet 
as  it  slowly  melted  off  from  the  landscape.  It  was  probably  in  the  inter- 
val between  the  times  of  formation  of  these  two  moraines  that  Lake 
Souris  began,  being  at  first  a  long,  narrow  lake  fed  by  the  waters  flow- 
ing directly  from  the  melting  ice-sheet  and  the  then  gr^eat  glacial  river, 
the  Des  Lacs.  The  upper  course  of  the  Souris  or  Mouse  River  was 
probably  at  this  time  covered  by  the  ice. 

The  earliest  outlet  of  Lake  Souris  was  to  the  south  by  the  broad 
valley  which  extends  from  near  Velva  at  the  southern  point  of  the  Ox- 
Bow  or  Big  Bend  of  the  Mouse  River  south  and  west  of  Balfour  and 
Anamoose,  and  then  conducted  the  waters  across  to  the  Missouri 
River  probably  by  Pony  Gulch,  or  the  channel  to  the  west  of  Dog 
Den  Butte,  in  which  lie  Strawberry,  Long  and  Crooked  Lakes,  form- 
ing a  channel  across  the  great  Altamont  Moraine.  This  valley  south 
from  Velva  is  a  broad,  level  tract  of  prairie,  low  in  many  places  and 
covered  with  lakes  and  hay-sloughs.  It  varies  in  width  from  a  quarter 
to  a  half  mile  or  more.  That  this  was  the  outlet  for  a  considerable  time 


OTHER   EXTINCT   GLACIAL   LAKES.  Ill 

is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  old  channel  is  well  marked,  having  clearly 
defined  banks  and  a  broad,  flat  bottom. 

After  the  ice  had  melted  back  farther,  probably  to  the  position  of 
the  Fourth  or  Kiester  Moraine,  and  at  the  time  when  the  edge  of  the 
great  ice-sheet  rested  upon  the  high  hills  south  of  Devils  Lake,  the 
outlet  was  changed  so  that  the  waters  escaped  by  the  channel  of  the 
present  Big  Coulee  and  Girard  and  Buffalo  Lakes  to  the  upper  course 
of  the  James  River. 

This  old  outlet  channel  is  about  125  feet  deep  and  a  third  of  a  mile 
wide.  The  Big  Coulee,  which  now  occupies  this  valley,  is  one  of  the 
head  streams  of  the  Sheyenne  River.  A  well  marked  channel  a  half 
mile  in  width  leads  across  from  the  valley  of  the  Sheyenne  to  the  valley 
of  the  James  in  northern  Wells  County,  by  which  the  waters  of  Lake 
Souris  were  carried  to  the  James  Valley  from  the  upper  course  of  the 
Sheyenne,  the  lower  valley  of  the  latter  being  at  this  time  still  buried 
beneath  the  ice.-  This  old  channel  connecting  the  Sheyenne  and  James 
Valleys  is  now  a  "dry"  waterway.  In  time  of  high  water  there  is  a 
stream  on  its  bottom  flowing  toward  the  Sheyenne,  the  valley  of  the 
Sheyenne  being  now  a  deeper  and  larger  valley  than  that  of  the  James. 
The  Big  Coulee  now  extends  as  a  well  marked  valley  to  within  about 
twelve  miles  of  the  Mouse  River.  Here,  then,  is  an  old  waterway,  from 
the  basin  of  Lake  Souris  to  the  Valley  of  the  James,  fifty  miles  in 
extent,  in  which  now  lie  the  Big  Coulee,  and  Girard  and  Buffalo  Lakes, 
the  upper  valley  of  the  Sheyenne  and  the  abandoned  channel  which 
connects  the  valleys  of  the  Sheyenne  and  James  Rivers. 

Afterward,  when  the  ice-sheet  had  melted  back  so  that  its  edge 
extended  from  west  of  the  Turtle  Mountains  to  the  high  hills  south  of 
Devils  Lake,  and  south  and  east  through  Nelson,  Steele  and  Barnes 
Counties,  the  Sheyenne  River,  now  receiving  flood  waters  from  the 
melting  ice,  was  cutting  its  broad  and  deep  channel  and  building  its 
delta  in  Lake  Agassiz.  With  the  deepening  of  its  channel  the  waters 
from  Lake  Souris  were  diverted  from  their  course  to  the  James,  and 
Lake  Souris  became  connected  with  Lake  Agassiz  by  the  Sheyenne 
River.  The  old  channel  which  formerly  carried  the  waters  of  Lake 
Souris  to  the  James  now  became  a  reversed  waterway.  The  Valley 
of  the  James  is  lower  than  the  former  mouth  of  this  old  channel,  so 
that  the  headwaters  of  the  James  are  not  cut  off  and  drawn  away  by 
the  Sheyenne,  although  in  time  of  high  water  a  sluggish  current  moves 
in  this  channel  toward  the  Sheyenne. 


112  THE  STORY  OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

When  at  a  later  time  the  ice  had  melted  back  so  that  the  Turtle 
Mountain  plateau  was  uncovered  and  the  lower  land  north  of  these 
mountains  was  freed  from  its  burden  of  ice  and  was  covered  by  the 
waters  of  the  now  larger  Lake  Souris — for  the  lake  grew  larger  as  the 
ice  melted  back — still  another  outlet  lower  than  that  by  the  Big  Coulee 
was  formed  north  and  east  of  the  Turtle  Mountains,  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  the  International  Boundary,  and  the  waters  of  Lake 
Souris  flowed  south  by  the  course  of  Badger  Creek  in  Manitoba, 
through  Lac  des  Roches  in  Towner  County,  and  thence  south  by  the 
Mauvaise  Coulee  into  Devils  Lake.  At  this  time  Devils  Lake  drained 
into  Stump  Lake,  and  Stump  Lake  drained  into  the  Sheyenne  River. 
So  Lake  Souris  still  furnished  water  to  keep  the  Sheyenne  at  flood 
while  it  was  cutting  its  deep  channel  and  building  up  the  great  Shey- 
enne Delta  in  Lake  Agassiz.  On  the  northwest  side  of  the  lake  the 
Assiniboine  River  was  pouring  in  its  waters  and  building  a  delta  upon 
the  bottom  of  Lake  Souris,  and  its  waters  also  wer,e  added  to  the 
volume  of  the  Sheyenne. 

During  the  time  that  Lake  Souris  was  discharging  its  waters  by 
the  Big  Coulee  outlet  into  the  James  River,  and  later  into  the  Shey- 
enne, and  probably  also  at  the  time  of  the  later  outlet  north  of  the 
Turtle  Mountains  to  Devils  Lake,  another  large  glacial  lake  far  north 
in  Canada,  Lake  Saskatchewan,  was  sending  its  waters  into  Lake 
Souris  also,  so  that  there  was  a  vast  waterway  from  200  miles  north  of 
the  International  Boundary  in  Canada  by  the  way  of  Lake  Souris  and 
the  Sheyenne  to  the  southern  part  of  Lake  Agassiz,  and  from  Lake 
Agassiz  south  by  the  River  Warren  and  the  present  course  of  the 
Minnesota  River  into  the  Mississippi  and  so  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

At  a  still  later  stage  in  the  melting  of  the  ice  Lake  Souris  was 
drained  by  the  Pembina  River  into  Lake  Agassiz,  and  its  waters  helped 
to  build  up  the  Delta  of  the  Pembina  in  Lake  Agassiz,  and  deepened 
the  channel  of  the  Pembina  River  where  it  crosses  the  crest  of  Pem- 
bina Mountain  to  a  depth  of  350  to  450  feet. 

The  Dakota  Glacier  or  ice-lobe  still  lay  upon  the  northeast  corner 
of  North  Dakota  at  the  time  Lake  Souris  was  drained  by  Lac  des 
Roches  and  the  Mauvaise  Coulee  into  Devils  Lake,  the  southern  end 
of  the  ice-lobe  forming  a  point  which  rested  on  the  highland  west  of 
Park  River,  Conway,  and  Inkster,  and  formed  the  moraine  which  ex- 
tends from  west  of  Inkster  northwest  to  trie  northeast  corner  of  Tow- 
ner County.  But  the  ice  had  entirely  melted  off  from  North  Dakota 


OTHER    EXTINCT   GLACIAL   LAKES.  113 

at  the  time  of  the  Pembina  River  outlet.  The  water  of  Lake  Souris 
had  by  this  time  lowered  so  that  the  southern  end  of  the  lake  did  not 
reach  south  of  the  International  Boundary,  and  the  lake  was  finally  en- 
tirely drained  while  the  waters  outflowed  by  this  outlet. 

Thus,  while  Lake  Souris  began  a  long  time  before  Lake  Agassiz, 
Lake  Agassiz  was  still  at  nearly  its  highest  stage  when  Lake  Souris 
was  entirely  drained.  Lake  Souris  began  after  the  ice  had  melted  back 
from  the  position  of  the  First  Moraine  so  that  there  began  to  be  a 
basin  between  the  highland  of  the  Missouri  Plateau  and  the  edge  of  the 
ice-sheejt.  The  region  of  the  Red  River  Valley  was  buried  beneath  the 
ice  of  the  Minnesota  Lobe  till  after  the  time  of  forming  of  the  Seventh 
or  Dovre  Moraine.  About  the  time  when  the  Sheyenne  River  began 
to  broaden  out  to  form  the  first  long,  narrow  lake,  which  was  the 
beginning  of  Lake  Agassiz  (page  80),  Lake  Souris  was  changing  to  its 
third  outlet  and  the  waters  of  the  Lake  covered  the  whole  region  of 
the  Ox-Bow  of  the  Mouse  River.  .  During  all  the  time  that  Lake 
Souris  was  being  drained  into  the  Missouri  River  and  then  by  the  Big 
Coulee  into  the  James  River,  Lake  Agassiz  had  not  yet  begun  to  exist. 
But  the  long  time  that  Lake  Agassiz  continued  while  all  the  beaches 
below  the  Herman  and  Norcross  stages  were  being  formed  makes  it  much 
older  in  length  of  time  of  existence. 

By  reference  to  the  Map  (Figure  i),  it  will  be  seen  that  the  shore- 
line of  Lake  Souris  crosses  the  International  Boundary  near  the  north- 
west corner  of  Bottineau  County,  extending  south  to  the  city  of  Minot. 
thence  follows  nearly  parallel  with  the  Ox-Bow  of  the  Mouse  River  to 
Rugby,  thence  north  to  the  Turtle  Mountains,  and  skirts  the  base  of 
these  mountains  around  their  south,  west  and  north  sides,  and  then 
extends  north  for  forty  miles,  making  the  area  in  Manitoba  about  the 
same  as  that  in  North  Dakota,  and  this  is  just  about  the  same  as  the 
area  covered  by  Lake  Agassiz  in  North  Dakota. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  all  the  great  expanse  of  prairie  from  Rugby, 
Willow  City  and  Bottineau  west  and  south  to  Towner,  Velva  and 
Minot,  and  north  to  the  International  Boundary,  is  lake  bottom.  This 
vast  region  embraces  a  natural  basin  of  nearly  4,000,000  acres  within 
the  State  of  North  Dakota  and  an  area  of  about  equal  extent  in  Canada. 
When  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  covered  the  continent  this  great  basin  and 
the  surrounding  highlands  were  filled  and  covered  by  the  ice.  It  was 
the  melting  of  this  enormous  mass  of  ice  which  furnished  the  water 
which,  hemmed  in  by  the  higher  lands  on  three  sides  and  by  the  ice  on 


114  THE  STORY  OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

the  fourth  or  north  side,  caused  the  lake.  When,  therefore,  the  ice  of 
the  great  glacier  had  melted  back  farther  north  than  where  Velva  now 
stands  a  lake  began  to  be  formed,  growing  larger  as  the  ice  continued 
to  melt  away  toward  the  north.  There  was  at  this  time,  of  course,  no 
Mouse  River,  because  the  land  which  it  now  drains  was  buried  under 
ice  probably  half  a  mile  deep. 

Just  how  long  it  took  for  the  ice  to  melt  away,  and  therefore  how 
long  the  lake  lasted  we  do  not  know,  but  it  was  a  long  time  measured 
in  years,  perhaps  several  centuries,  for  the  outlet  channels  were  cut 
down  a  good  way  into  the  land  surface,  and  the  shore  marks  made  by 
the  washing  of  the  waves  indicate  that  the  water  stood  here  for  a  long 
time. 

It  will  be  noticed  upon  the  Map  ( Figure  i )  that  the  moraines  stop 
at  the  edge  of  the  lake.  The  ice  left  these  earth  materials  upon  the 
lake  bottom  as  well  as  upon  the  land  outside  the  lake.  But  the  waves 
and  currents  of  the  lake  leveled  down  the  hills  to  a  large  extent  and 
spread  the  materials  upon  the  bottom.  The  lands  are  not  perfectly 
level  on  the  old  lake  bottom  just  west  of  these  hills,  but  are  quite  roll- 
ing, or  undulating.  They  have  been  levelect  a  good  deal  so  that  the 
rough  and  high  places  have  been  softened  and  toned  down,  giving  a 
gracefully  curved  contour  to  the  surface.  One  can  trace  the  line  of 
hills  of  a  moraine  across  the  lake  bottom  in  many  places  by  the  rolling 
and  undulating  character  of  the  land  surface.  The  lake  bottom  hills 
have  low-rounded,  smooth  surfaces  quite  different  from  the  rugged  and 
irregular  heaps  and  ridges  of  clay,  sand  and  boulders  which  make  up 
the  moraines  east  of  the  lake  shore. 

Since  the  waters  of  the  lake  have  gone  the  old  bottom  has  become 
a  grassy  prairie.  Boulders  are  scattered  upon  its  surface  as  they  were 
left  by  the  melting  ice  of  the  glacier,  or  were  dropped  from  floating 
cakes  of  ice  formed  on  the  surface  of  the  lake  during  winters  and  so 
scattered  over  the  prairie. 

The  hills  on  the  lake  bottom  are  often  quite  sandy,  and  dune  tracts 
are  common.  The  sand  comes  from  the  Turtle  Mountains  and  the 
region  south,  for  the  ice-sheet  in  crossing  the  Turtle  Mountain  plateau 
combed  off  great  quantities  of  the  soft  sandstone  rock  which  makes  up 
a  large  part  of  the  rock  layers  of  these  mountains.  The  underlying 
rock  south  of  the  mountains  is  sandstone  also,  so  that  as  the  ice 
ploughed  over  the  landscape,  sandstone  rock  was  broken  loose  and 
ground  up,  and  so  when  the  ice  melted  it  left  the  sand  in  morainic 


OTHER   EXTINCT   GLACIAL  LAKES. 


115 


heaps.  The  waves  and  currents  of  the  lake  washed  away  much  of 
whatever  clay  and  earth  was  carried  by  the  ice.  The  clean,  almost 
white,  sand  was  therefore  left.  The  "heavier"  soils  became  covered 
with  grass  and  other  vegetation,  and  the  sod  so  formed  prevents  the 
wind  from  carrying  the  particles.  The  sand  does  not  readily  become 
sodded  over  and  so  it  is  taken  up  by  the  wind  and  blown  and  piled 
into  dunes. 

Some  large  dune  tracts  are  crossed  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway 


FIG.  59.     Sand  Dunes,  North  of  Towner,  McHenry  County.     The  Sand  is  Carried  by  the  Wind  over 
the  Crest  of  the  Hills,  and  is  Burying  the  Forest.    Photograph  by  F.  N.  Molyneux. 

where  it  passes  over  the  old  lake  bottom  from  Rugby  to  Minot.  A 
scant  growth  of  scrubby  timber  holds  a  footing  on  many  of  the  dunes. 
Some  of  these  hills  are  made  up  of  almost  perfectly  clean  whitish  sand, 
and  they  are  moved  across  the  country  in  drifts  in  the  same  manner  as 
drifting  snow  travels  with  the  winds. 

During  the  time  that  the  Antelope  flills  were  being  formed  at  the 
edge  of  the  ice  Lake  Souris  still  discharged  by  the  Spring  Creek  outlet 
to  the  south,  and  to  the  Missouri  River.  If  the  lines  of  the  moraines 
shown  on  the  Map  are  extended  across  the  lake  bottom  to  show  where 
the  edge  of  the  ice  was  across  the  lake  it  will  be  seen  that  the  lake  was 


116  THE   STORY    OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

as  yet  only  a  small  sheet,  for  these  lines  mark  the  position  of  the  ice- 
shore  on  the  north  side  of  the  lake.  It  was,  however,  supplied  with 
water  by  the  Des  Lacs  and  Mouse  River  drainage  from  along  the  edge 
of  the  ice-sheet  far  to  the  northwest.  The  outlet  and  shores  were  high 
at  this  time,  and  it  seems  likely  that  the  well  marked  ridge  which  ex- 
tends about  fourteen  miles  from  south  of  Balfqur  north  and  west  to 
Pendroy  at  the  Mouse  River  is  a  beach  ridge  formed  on  the  east  side 
of  a  bay  which  formed  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  and  which  ex- 
tended south  until  the  waters  broke  over  the  summit  near  Balfour. 
This  ridge,  the  famous  "Balfour  Ridge,"  is  as  smooth  and  well-defined 
as  a  railroad  grading,  becoming  higher  and  broader  toward  the  north. 
It  rises  six  to  eight  feet  above  the  prairie  at  the  south  end  about  Bal- 
four and  rises  gradually  and  evenly  till  at  the  north  end,  where  it  is 
abruptly  cut  off  by  the  Mouse  River,  it  is  thirty  feet  high.  Such  a 
beach  would  be  built  higher  where  the  lake  was  wider  and  the  waves 
rolled  higher,  and  this  accords  with  the  form  of  this  southern  bay, 
which  had  its  narrow  point  ten  to  fifteen  miles  south  of  Velva,  near 
Balfour. 

That  this  shore,  and  the  southern  Balfour  or  Spring  Creek  outlet, 
were  higher  than  the  Big  Coulee  outlet,  which  was  opened  after  the 
Antelope  Hills  had  been  formed,  or  which  likely  began  to  be  cut  while 
the  last  ridges  of  these  hills  were  being  formed,  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  Wintering  Creek  flows  from  along  the  east  side  of  the  Balfour 
Ridge  toward  the  Big  Coulee  outlet,  several  small  coulees  which  enter 
it  flowing  in  deep  cuts  across  the  ridge. 

Glacial  Lake  Dakota.— North  Dakota  has  a  "majority"  in  the  number 
of  old  lake  bottoms  within  the  limits  of  the  State.  Besides  Lake  Agas- 
siz  and  Lake  Souris,  a  third  lake,  which  lay  mostly  in  South  Dakota, 
extended  over  a  small  area  in  Dickey  County  in  North  Dakota.  This 
old  lake  has  been  called  Lake  Dakota.  Like  the  other  two  large 
glacial  lakes  which  have  been  described,  it  was  caused  by  the  flood 
waters  from  the  melting  ice-sheet,  but  not  in  just  the  same  way  as 
were  these. 

Lake  Dakota  was  formed  when  the  edge  of  the  ice  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Dakota  Glacier  stood  at  the  position  of  the  Third  or  Ante- 
lope Moraine,  when  the  Valley  of  the  James  River  had  but  just  been 
uncovered  from  the  ice.  The  lake  lay  in  the  Valley  of  the  James  River. 
It  was  an  enlargement  on  a  very  large  scale  of  the  James  River.  The 
waters  could  not  escape  at  the  south  fast  enough,  being  dammed  by  a 


OTHER   EXTINCT   GLACIAL  LAKES.  117 

ridge  of  hard  rock,  the  Sioux  Quartzite,  the  rock  which  is  spoken  of 
in  Chapter  Two  as  being  at  the  surface  in  central  eastern  South  Dakota. 
This  rock  is  very  hard,  and  the  ice-sheet  in  passing  over  it  did  not  plane 
it  off  as  it  did  the  softer  rocks  to  the  north.  The  result  was  that  a 
ridge  or  low  hill  of  this  rock  lay  across  the  course  of  the  James  River 
and  acted  as  a  dam,  causing  the  waters  to  accumulate  and  spread  out 
north  of  it,  thus  forming  the  lake.  The  edge  of  the  ice-sheet  lay  along 
the  east  side  of  the  James  Valley  and  so  there  was  much  water  flowing 
down  its  course  from  the  melting  of  the  ice. 

The  ridge  of  hard  quartzite  was  at  Alexandria,  South  Dakota,  and 
the  lake  extended  north  from  here  along  the  present  Valley  of  the 
James  River  to  Oakes  in  North  Dakota.  Its  length  was  about  175 
miles,  and  it  varied  in  width  from  eight  or  ten  to  thirty  miles,  and  its 
depth  in  the  deepest  part  was  probably  175  feet. 

Only  the  northern  end  of  this  lake  extended  into  North  Dakota. 
Where  the  southern  boundary  line  of  the  State  crosses  the  old  lake 
bottom  it  is  about  eight  miles  in  width.  It  extends  a  few  miles  north 
of  Oakes  in  North  Dakota,  and  covers  a  territory  in  this  State  of  a  little 
more  than  100  square  miles. 

Glacial  "Lake  Sargent."— In  the  interval  after  the  draining  away  of 
Lake  Dakota  and  before  the  beginning  of  Lake  Agassiz,  a  glacial  lake 
covered  the  greater  part  of  Sargent  County,  a  small  part  of  Ransom 
County,  and  extended  about  ten  miles  into  Marshall  County,  South 
Dakota.  No  name  having  been  given  to  this  extinct  lake,  it  is  here 
called  "Lake  Sargent." 

The  broad  morainic  belt  on  the  western  line  of  Sargent  and  Ran- 
som Counties  served  as  the  western  shore  of  this  lake,  this  moraine 
and  the  Coteau  des  Prairies  the  southern  shore,  and  the  wall  of  the 
melting  ice-sheet  the  northern  and  eastern  shore.  As  the  ice  melted 
on  the  eastern  side  of  this  moraine  adding  its  waters  to  those  of  the 
lake  the  area  of  the  lake  extended  eastward  following  the  melting  ice, 
till  the  Dovre  Moraine  was  formed.  This  moraine  became  the  eastern 
shore  and  was  washed  on  its  western  side  by  the  waves  of  the  lake. 
The  shore-line  thus  extended  from  Nicholson  and  Straubville  south 
across  the  State  Line  to  Burch,  South  Dakota,  then  north  and  east 
around  the  head  of  the  Coteau  des  Prairies  to  Lake  Tewaukon  or 
Skunk  Lake,  -and  north  by  Cayuga  and  Ransom,  covering  the  Stormy 
Lakes,  and  extending  north  into  Ransom  County,  its  area  covering 
probably  between  600  and  700  square  miles. 


118  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

Lake  Dakota  had  been  drained  away  before  the  beginning  of  Lake 
Sargent,  and  the  James  River  was  flowing  across  its  old  bed.  Lake 
Sargent  at  first  discharged  to  the  southwest  across  the  now  dry  bottom 
of  Lake  Dakota  into  the  James  River.  Later  when  Lake  Agassiz  had 
begun  to  be  formed  a  lower  channel  of  discharge  probably  was  found 
to  the  east  from  Lake  Tewaukoji  close  north  of  the  Coteau  des  Prairies 
highland  and  south  of  the  high  range  of  hills  (Dovre  Moraine)  which 
extends  south  of  Lidgerwood,  passing  through  a  low  place  in  the  mo- 
raine, and  entering  Lake  Agassiz  about  four  miles  south  of  Hankin- 
son,  and  twenty  miles  east  of  Lake  Tewaukon. 

The  depth  of  the  lake  at  the  time  of  its  highest  stage  was  probably 
about  50  feet  at  Forman,  100  feet  at  Perry  and  150  feet  along  the 
northeast  side  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Stormy  Lakes,  though  the  eastern 
outlet  may  have  lowered  the  water  before  it  became  as  deep  as  these 
figures  indicate. 

The 'eastern  two-thirds  of  Sargent  County  is  now  drained  into  the 
Red  River  of  the  North  by  the  Wild  Rice,  which  enters  the  area  of 
Lake  Agassiz  near  Wyndmere.  A  cut  of  twenty-five  feet  in  the  mo- 
raine east  of  the  James  River  twelve  miles  south  of  the  State  Line  at 
Amherst,  South  Dakota,  would  permit  the  waters  of  the  James  River 
to  be  carried  by  the  course  of  the  Wild  Rice  to  the  Red  River  of  the 
North.  The  elevation  at  Amherst  is  1,312  feet  above  sea-level.  Wild 
Rice  station,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Wild  Rice  River,  where  it  enters 
the  Red  is  911  feet  above  sea-level,  so  that  there  would  be  a  fall  of 
about  400  feet  from  the  James  River  to  the  Red  River  of  the  North  in 
a  distance  of  about  100  miles,  a  fall  about  four  and  one-half  times  as 
great  as  that  of  the  Red  River  from  Lake  Traverse  to  I^ake  Winnipeg. 
Had  it  not  been  that  the  James  River  cut  a  channel  deep  enough  to 
prevent  it  breaking  over  to  the  east  while  the  ice-sheet  still  covered 
the  land  to  the  east  and  was  forming  the  large  moraine  which  lies  east 
of  the  Valley  of  the  James,  that  river  might  have  taken  an  easterly 
course  to  the  Red  River  of  the  North  instead  of  its  present  southerly 
course.  This  is  an  interesting  example  of  the  way  the  ice-sheet 
changed  and  directed  the  course  of  rivers. 

At  Nicholson  a  broad  channel  widens  out  onto  this  old  lake  bottom, 
a  channel  by  which  a  large  glacial  river  entered  this  old  lake.  This 
old  channel  was  occupied  by  the  Sheyenne  River  before,  the  ice-sheet 
had  melted  back  far  enough  to  allow  this  river  to  cut  its  present  chan- 
nel south  of  Valley  City  to  Lisbon.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles 


OTHER   EXTINCT   GLACIAL   LAKES.  119 

wide  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  Fargo  Southwestern  Branch  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  at  Englevale.  It  extends  north  into  the  Fort 
Ransom  Military  Reservation,  and  south  at  Nicholson  broadens  out 
onto  the  bottom  of  Lake  Sargent.  Ridges  of  drift  formed  islands  in  the 
broad  river,  and  deep  channels  cut  in  its  flat  bottom  perhaps  by  cur- 
rents of  the  old  river  during  winters  \vhen  the  melting  of  the  ice-sheet 
was  less  rapid,  are  no\v  filled  with  \vater  and  give  to  the  old  valley  the 
name  of  Big  Slough. 

The  Sheyenne  River  received  water  from  all  along  the  edge  of  the 
ice-sheet  north  to  Devils  Lake,  and  probably  during  this  time  received 
the  waters  from  Lake  Souris  by  the  way  of  the  Big  Coulee  outlet.  It 
did  not,  however,  cut  a  channel  so  deep  but  that,  when  the  ice  had 
melted  back  farther  than  to  the  position  of  the  Dovre  Moraine  and 
the  course  of  its  present  valley  was  uncovered  and  Lake  Agassiz  began 
to  be  formed,  it  cut  its  deep  channel  south  and  east  to  Lisbon  and 
began  to  build  up  its  delta  at  Milnor. 

When,  therefore,  Lake  Sargent  had  been  lowered  by  the  opening  of 
its  eastern  outlet  from  Lake  Tewaukon  to  the  east  into  Lake  Agassiz 
and  the  Sheyenne  River  had  ceased  to  pour  its  waters  into  Lake  Sar- 
gent this  lake  rapidly  ceased  to  be,  and  later  still  the  drainage  from 
the  Lake  Sargent  area  was  established  by  the  course  of  the  present 
\Yild  Rice  River.  So  Lake  Sargent  came  into  existence  after  the 
formation  of  the  large  moraine  which  consists  of  the  combined  Fourth, 
Fifth  and  Sixth  Moraines  along  the  western  boundaries  of  Ransom  and 
Sargent  Counties,  and  continued  to  grow  larger  during  the  time  that 
the  ice  was  melting  back  to  the  position  of  the  Seventh  or  Dovre  Mo- 
raine, after  which  it  quickly  disappeared  by  the  drawing  off  of  its  waters 
to  the  east  and  by  the  changing  of  the  course  of  the  Sheyenne  River 
so  that  its  \vaters  did  not  enter  this  lake.  Lake  Dakota  began  at  or 
before  the  time  of  depositing  of  the  Fourth  Moraine  and  had  disap- 
peared before  the  beginning  of  Lake  Sargent  at  the  time  of  the  Sixth 
Moraine.  Lake  Agassiz  began  with  the  same  events  which  caused  the 
closing  of  the  existence  of  Lake  Sargent,  that  is,  the  withdrawing  by 
melting  of  the  edge  of  the  ice-sheet  farther  east  than  the  Dovre 
Moraine  so  that  the  basin  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North  began  to  be 
uncovered,  and  the  withdrawing  of  the  waters  of  the  Sheyenne  River 
from  Lake  Sargent  to  that  basin  and  at  the  same  time  causing  the 
drawing  away  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Sargent. 


CHAPTER    THE    ELEVENTH. 
THE   HISTORY  OF   DEVILS   LAKE. 

The  history  of  Devils  Lake  is  interesting  not  only  because  it  is  "The 
Great  Salt  Lake"  of  North  Dakota  and  the  largest  lake  in  the  State,  but 
its  history  forms  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  geology  of  the  State. 

The  Cause  of  the  Lake. — A  line  connecting  Stump  Lake  and  Devils 
Lake  and  extending  northwest  through  Ibsen,  Hurricane,  Grass,  Island 
and  Long  Lakes  probably  marks  the  place  of  an  old  river  valley  which 
once  extended  from  near  the  Turtle  Mountains  to  the  Red  River.  This 
old  valley  was  filled  or  nearly  filled  with  drift.  The  Blue  Hills  south- 
west of  Stump  and  southeast  of  Devils  Lake,  the  high  and  massive  hills 
south  of  Devils  Lake,  Mauvais  Butte,  or  Big  Butte,  south  of  Lake 
Ibsen,  the  eastern  end  of  which  is  about  eight  miles  west  of  the  western 
end  of  Devils  Lake,  a  hill  about  ten  miles  long,  and  the  high  land 
northwest  from  Mauvais  Butte  which  forms  the  watershed  or  divide 
between  the  Mouse  Valley  and  Mauvaise  Coulee,  which  is  the  highest 
point  crossed  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway  between  Grand  Forks 
and  the  Missouri  Plateau  west  of  Minot,  form  a  series  of  highlands 
which  were  probably  the  southern  and  western  side  of  this  valley. 
This  it  will  be  understood  was  a  valley  upon  the  landscape  of  "Old 
North  Dakota,"  or  the  pre-glacial  landscape. 

When  the  ice-sheet  melted  off  from  the  land  the  valley  was  nearly 
filled  with  drift.  It  was  not  entirely  filled  for  its  course  is  still  able  to 
be  traced  for  100  miles  from  the  east  end  of  Stump  Lake  to  Long  Lake 
south  of  the  Turtle  Mountains.  All  these  lakes  lie  lengthwise  of  this 
valley  as  we  should  expect  them  to  do  if  this  were  the  partially  filled 
valley  of  an  old  river. 

The  Blue  Hills  are  veneered  hills,  that  is,  hills  which  were  there 
before  the  ice-sheet  came,  and  which  have  been  covered  with  a  mantle 
of  drift.  So  also  the  high  hills  south  of  Devils  Lake  were  hills  before 
the  ice  melted  in  trying  to  cross  over  them  and  dumped  the  drift  hills 
on  top  of  them.  Mauvais  or  Big  Butte  is  also  covered  with  a  mantle  or 
coating  of  drift,  but  is  not  itself  made  up  of  drift. 

120 


THE   HISTORY   OF  DEVILSX  LAKE.  121 

The  Blue  Hills,  which  rise  from  100  to  200  feet  above  Stump  Lake, 
the  massive  hills  south  of  Devils  Lake,  the  highest  of  which,  Devils 
Heart  and  Sully's  Hill,  rise  275  to  290  feet  above  the  water  of  Devils 
Lake,  and  Mauvais  Butte,  which  rises  at  its  higher  western  end  nearly 
300  feet  above  the  prairie  at  its  base,  are  all  elevated  masses  of  Cretace- 
ous (Fort  Pierre)  shale,  their  rough  surfaces  having  been  combed  off 
and  smoothed  by  the  ice-sheet  passing  over  them,  and  leaving  a  cover- 
ing of  drift  as  it  melted. 

Devils  Lake  and  Stump  Lake  occupy  deep  hollows  in  this  old  val- 
ley where  it  was  less  rilled  with  drift.  Stump  Lake  is  said  to  be  nearly 
100  feet  deep  in  its  deepest  place,  and  Devils  Lake  in  the  centre  of  the 
widest  portion  of  the  eastern  end  is  75  to  80  feet  deep.  The  drift  on  the 
surrounding  prairies  is  from  10  to  50  feet  deep  on  the  general  land- 
scape and  as  much  as  100  feet  deep  in  the  morainic  hills.  These  lakes 
thus  lie  in  a  trough  in  the  rocks  which  underlie  the  drift  materials. 
They  are,  in  fact,  lakes  formed  by  the  damming  of  a  river  valley.  At 
least  it  seems  probable  that  they  lie  in  such  a  valley.  Some  of  the  arms 
or  bays  of  Devils  Lake  are  very  likely  the  partially  filled  valleys  which 
were  tributary  to  the  main  valley.  Some  of  the  bays  are  caused  by 
moraines  which  were  dumped  into  the  valley  and  now  form  the  bluffs 
on  the  north  side  of  the  lake,  but  it  does  not  seem  that  these  gave  the 
general  form  to  the  outline  of  the  lake.  The  sides  or  shores  on  the 
south  side  seem  to  be  the  .underlying  rock  only  thinly  covered  with 
drift. 

Devils  and  Stump  Lakes  were  much  larger  bodies  of  water  during 
the  time  when  the  ice-sheet  was  melting  north  of  these  lakes  and  a  flood 
of  ice-waters  was  being  poured  into  them.  There  are  marks  made  by 
the  waves  twenty-one  to  twenty-five  feet  higher  than  the  present  sur- 
face of  low-water  in  these  lakes.  -  If  the  water  in  Devils  Lake  should 
rise  sixteen  feet  above  low-water  a  connection  would  be  made  across 
from  its  eastern  end  near  Jerusalem  to  Stump  Lake,  and  if  it  should 
rise  five  to  eight  feet  higher  still,  Stump  Lake  would  also  drain  into 
the  Sheyenne  River.  An  old  channel  connects  Stump  Lake  with  the 
valley  of  the  Sheyenne,  as  also  a  lower  channel  which  connects  Devils 
and  Stump  Lakes,  showing  that  there  has  in  time  past  been  an  outflow 
to  the  Sheyenne  as  well  as  connection  between  the  two  lakes. 

If  we  follow  the  Chain-of-Lakes  and  the  Mauvaise  Coulee  to  Lac 
des  Roches  near  the  international  boundary,  and  thence  by  Badger 
Creek  to  Pelican  Lake  in  Manitoba,  and  to  the  Souris  River,  a  natural 


122  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

waterway  is  seen  to  almost  connect  the  Souris  with  Devils  Lake.  This 
was  the  course  of  the  outlet  of  Lake  Souris  to  Devils  Lake  and  the 
Sheyenne  River  before  the  ice-sheet  had  melted  off  from  the  northeast 
corner  of  North  Dakota. 

At  the  time  the  waters  of  Lake  Souris  flowed  by  this  course,  Sweet- 
water,  Dry,  and  De  Groat  Lakes,  which  are  fenced  in  by  the  terminal 
moraine  which  lies  south  of  them,  were  higher  than  now  because  of  the 
flood  of  ice-water  they  received  from  the  melting  ice-sheet,  the  edge 
of  which  was  but  a  little  north  of  them  at  this  time,  and  flowed  across 
to  the  south  into  Devils  Lake. 

Fluctuations  of  Level. — The  waters  of  all  lakes  vary  in  the  height 
of  their  water-level  during  periods  of  years.  Devils  Lake  has  been 
much  higher  than  it  is  now,  as  is  shown  by  beach-lines  marked  by  the 
waves  at  levels  considerably  higher  than  the  present  high-water  level. 
It  has  also  been  much  lower  than  the  present  low-water,  as  is  shown  by 
forests  which  are  now  submerged  along  the  shores  below  low-water. 
Such  trees  now  stand  with  their  roots  imbedded  in  the  mud  in  Stump 
Lake,  and  also  in  the  Washington  Lakes  a  few  miles  south  of  Devils 
Lake  in  Eddy  county.  It  is  said  that  the  name  Stump  Lake  came  from 
this  fact. 

The  year  1889  marks  a  low  stage  in  the  waters  of  Devils  and  Stump 
Lakes,  while  about  sixty  years  before,  in  1830,  the  waters  of  these  lakes 
were  sixteen  feet  higher  than  in  1889.  This  was  about  the  time  of 
the  highest  known  flood  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  when  its  wa- 
ters rose  so  high  that  they  covered  the  land  on  which  the  City  of  Win- 
nipeg stands  to  a  depth  of  five  feet.  The  waters  of  Devils  Lake  rise 
and  fall  through  a  height  of  four  feet  in  a  dozen"  years.  Since  Fort 
Totten  was  built,  about  thirty-five  years  ago,  the  lake  has  fallen  ten 
feet.  At  the  time  of  the  high  water  in  1830  the  height  of  the  water 
in  Devils  Lake  was  limited  by  an  overflow  into  Stump  Lake,  a  channel 
about  sixteen  feet  above  low-water,  as  has  been  stated,  connecting  the 
two  lakes.  It  is  likely  it  has  risen  high  enough  to  discharge  into 
Stump  Lake  many  times  in  the  period  since  the  Ice  Age. 

At  the  time  the  melting  ice-sheet  was  pouring  its  waters  into  these 
lakes  their  level  was  twenty-one  to  twenty-five  feet  higher  than  the 
low  stage  in  1889,  and  Stump  Lake  then  discharged  into  the  Sheyenne 
River.  The  channel  from  Stump  Lake  to  the  Sheyenne  has  a  nearly 
flat  bottom  150  feet  wide,  and  hills  rise  on  either  side  fifty  to  seventy- 
five  feet  high.  The  bottom  of  this  old  channel  is  higher  than  the 


lilies 


m 


THE   HISTORY   OF   DEVILS   LAKE.  123 

beaches  which  were  formed  by  the  waves  during  the  probably  quite 
long  time  when  the  waters  were  at  the  high  stage  of  1830,  which  are 
sixteen  feet  higher  than  the  low  stage  of  1889,  but  these  beaches  are 
higher  than  the  bottom  of  the  channel  connecting  the  east  end  of 
Devils  Lake  at  Jerusalem  with  the  west  end  of  Stump  Lake,  and  these 
beaches  are  marked  on  the  sides  of  this  channel  showing  that  the  two 
lakes  were  then  united  or  joined  by  a  strait. 

The  heavy  and  older  forests  which  border  these  lakes  extend  across 
the  highest  shore-line  which  marks  the  height  of  the  waters  at  the  time 
of  the  melting  away  of  the  ice-sheet,  and  ^down  to  the  beach  which 
marks  the  high  stage  of  1830.  Below  this  shore-line  are  only  smaller 
and  scattering  trees,  one  of  the  largest  of  which  is  reported  to  have 
been  cut  by  Captain  Heerman  and  to  have  had  fifty-seven  annual  rings 
of  growth.  During  the  igth  century,  therefore,  these  lakes  probably 
have  not  stood  above  the  high  shore-line  of  1830.  The  old  submerged 
forests  may  date  back  200  years  earlier  to  the  time  of  the  great  period 
of  drought  when  Pyramid  and  Winnemucca  Lakes  in  the  Great  Basin 
of  Nevada  were  dried  up. 


CHAPTER   THE   TWELFTH. 
THE  LAKES  OF   NORTH  DAKOTA. 

The  Kinds  of  Lakes. — If  we  glance  at  a  map  of  North  Dakota  it  will 
be  seen  that  all  that  portion  of  the  State  west  of  the  Red  River  Valley 
and  east  of  the  Missouri  River,  except  the  Mouse  River  Valley,  is  dotted 
with  lakes,  and  there  are  hundreds,  yes,  thousands,  of  small  lakes  not 
shown  on  even  the  largest  maps.  These  are  "glacial  lakes" — that  is,  lakes 
which  occupy  basins  or  hollows  amongst  drift  hills.  They  are  more  com- 
mon among  the  hills  of  terminal  moraines,  and  hence  are  often  called 
"morainic  lakes." 

Lake  Agassiz,  which  covered  the  Red  River  Valley,  Lake  Souris, 
which  covered  the  lower  Mouse  River  Valley,  and  Lake  Dakota,  which 
occupied  the  Valley  of  the  Lower  James  River,  a  small  part  of  which 
lake  extended  into  North  Dakota,  and  Lake  Sargent,  covering  most 
of  Sargent  County,  were  glacial  lakes;  but  these  owed  their  existence 
to  the  presence  of  the  melting  ice-sheet,  and  they  lasted  only  so  long 
as  the  ice-sheet  remained  to  fill  their  basins  with  water,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  dam  the  northern  drainage  courses,  except  in  the  case  of  Lake 
Dakota,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  dammed  at  its  southern  end  by 
a  ridge  of  hard  rock.  These  lakes  disappeared  with  the  final  melting 
of  the  ice-sheet;  they  are  therefore  called  extinct  lakes. 

The  Cause  of  Existing  Lakes.— All  existing  lakes  in  North  Dakota 
owe  their  being  to  the  fact  that  the  rainfall  is  greater  than  the  evapora- 
tion, and  the  hemming  in  of  their  waters  by  morainic  hills  or  other  land 
barriers  which  form  the  sides  of  their  basins.  They  are  "glacial  lakes," 
therefore,  not  because  their  waters  come  from  the  melting  of  the  ice  of 
a  glacier,  but  because  the  glacier  which  was  once  here  caused  their 
basins  to*  be  formed  among  the  heaps  and  ridges  of  earth  left  where  it 
melted. 

A  good  deal  of  the  drift  is  clay,  and  this  holds  water  about  as  well 
as  a  porcelain  dish.  Wherever  there  is  a  hollow  in  which  more  water 


THE   LAKES   OF  NORTH   DAKOTA.  125 

falls  or  collects  than  disappears  by  evaporation  or  soaking  into  the 
ground  there  will  be  a  lake,  and  it  is  called  a  "glacial  lake"  if  its  basin 
was  formed  by  the  action  of  the  ice  of  the  great  ice-sheet.  All  the  lakes 
in  North  Dakota  are  glacial  lakes. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  land  forming  the  basin  of  a  glacial  lake 
should  be  entirely  in  drift  deposited  from  the  melting  ice  in  order  for 
it  to  be  a  glacial  lake.  The  materials  from  the  glacier  may  cause  a 
lake  to  be  formed  without  the  entire  rim  of  the  lake  being  of  drift.  A 
river  valley  may  be  partly  filled  with  drift  so  as  to  dam  the  stream  and 
thus  cause  a  lake  above  the  dam.  Such  a  lake  would  owe  its  existence 
to  ice  action  and  hence  would  be  a  glacial  lake.  It  is  likely  that  Devils 
and  Stump  Lakes  were  formed  in  this  manner.  Jim  Lake  and  Arrow 
Wood  Lake  in  Stutsman  County  were  formed  by  the  partial  filling  of 
the  channel  of  the  James  River  by  the  drift  so  that  the  river  is  com- 
pelled to  spread  out  above  the  obstructions  till  the  water  rises  high 
enough  to  flow  over. 

The  lakes  of  North  Dakota  vary  in  size  from  tiny  ponds  only  a  few 
rods  across  to  those  several  miles  in  diameter.  Devils  Lake,  the  Lake 
Superior  of  North  Dakota,  is  forty  miles  in  length,  measured  in  a  direct 
line,  and  it  is  more  than  three  hundred  miles  around  its  shore.  Des 
Lacs  Lake  in  Ward  County  is  nearly  thirty  miles  long,  while  only  from 
a  quarter  to  a  half  mile  wide. 

Sometimes  the  depths  of  glacial  lakes  are  very  great  in  proportion 
to  their  sizes  and  sometimes  they  are  large  and  shallow,  broad,  flat  clay- 
pans  filled  with  water.  Sometimes  the  bottom  drops  suddenly  to  a 
great  depth,  and  sometimes  there  is  a  gradual  slope  of  the  bottom  from 
the  shore  toward  the  centre. 

In  a  similar  manner,  on  "glaciated"  land  surfaces  hollows  are  some- 
times deep  with  their  sides  abrupt  and  steep,  and  sometimes  a  broad 
"flat"  merges  gradually  into  surrounding  hills.  The  deeper  and 
steeper  sided  hollows  in  glaciated  regions  have  been  called  "pots 
and  kettles."  The  broad  and  more  shallow  ones  might  as  properly  be 
called  "pans."  "Pots  and  kettles"  are  very  common  in  terminal  mo- 
raines, and  "pans"  are  common  on  rolling  prairies  between  moraines. 

Exactly  the  counterpart  or  opposite  of  the  "pots  and  kettles"  are 
the  steep,  rounded  knobs  or  knobby  hills  of  terminal  moraines.  Pots 
and  kettles  and  knobby  hills  wherever  seen  are  a  pretty  certain  indica- 
tion of  a  terminal  moraine.  A  gently  undulating  prairie  with  shallow 
depressions  generally  indicates  a  ground-moraine. 


126  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

The  great  irregularity  of  the  shores  of  many  lakes  in  North  Dakota 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  hemmed  in  by  knobby  hills,  and  if  the 
lake  is  large  there  may  be  several  "pots"  covered  by  the  water  of  one 
lake,  the  water  being  very  deep  where  are  the  pots  and  quite  shallow 
between  them,  or  knobs  may  rise  up,  forming  islands. 

Lakes  may  diminish  in  amount  of  water  they  contain  during  dry, 
hot  seasons,  or  they  may  dry  up  entirely  during  the  driest  part  of  the 
summer.  Such  are  often  called  "dry"  lakes.  Lakes  may  also  be  "dry" 
for  a  period  of  years  when  the  summers  are  seasons  of  unusual  drought, 
and  become  lakes  again  during  a  series  of  rainy  seasons.  If  a  hollow 
is  not  deep  enough  to  hold  sufficient  water  to  form  a  lake  but  rushes 
and  marsh  grasses  grow  upon  its  bottom  it  will  be  a  slough  or  bog. 
There  are  thousands  of  such  sloughs  in  North  Dakota,  and  they  afford 
some  of  the  most  valuable  "hay-meadows"  in  the  State.  Sometimes  a 
stream  flows  from  higher  land  onto  a  tract  of  land  so  nearly  level  that 
the  water  is  unable  to  cross  it  and  so  spreads  out  and  forms  a  marsh 
or  swamp.  Such  marshes,  also  often  making  valuable  hay-meadows, 
occur  upon  the  bottoms  of  old  glacial  stream  channels.  Good  ex- 
amples of  this  kind  are  the  flat  bottoms  of  the  old  outlets  of  Lake 
Souris  west  of  Balfour,  and  the  Big  Coulee,  and  very  many  over 
the  great  Missouri  Plateau  where  glacial  channels  were  cut  by  the 
waters  from  the  melting  Glacier  flowing  across  to  the  Missouri  River. 

Since  the  walls  which  hem  in  the  waters  of  glacial  lakes  are  the 
materials  dumped  from  the  melting  ice,  and  since  these  materials  are 
often  left  in  very  irregular  piles  and  ridges,  the  outlines  or  shores  of 
glacial  lakes  are  often  very  irregular,  the  shore-line  of  the  lake  winding 
around  all  the  irregularities  of  the  hills  which  hem  in  the  waters  of  the 
lake.  Sweetwater  Lake,  in  Ramsey  County,  is  a  good  example  of  such 
a  lake  having  very  irregular  shore,  though  there  are  many  hundreds 
of  smaller  lakes  in  the  State  which  are  equally  good  examples. 

In  the  case  of  a  lake  formed  by  the  damming  of  a  river  valley  by  the 
drift  the  shore-line  will  follow  not  only  the  windings  of  the  stream 
course  and  the  curves  around  the  hills  dumped  into  the  valley,  but 
will  reach  out  into  the  tributary  valleys  forming  bays.  The  very  irregu- 
lar shore-line  of  Devils  Lake  is  probably  due  to  all  three  of  these 
causes. 


CHAPTER   THE  THIRTEENTH. 
SALT  AND  ALKALINE  WATERS  IN  LAKES. 

The  Salts  in  Lake  Waters.— The  waters  of  many  lakes  are  not  only 
"salt,"  but  they  are  often  bitter.  This  is  because  there  are  bitter  "salts" 
in  the  water.  Our  common  table  salt  is  what  the  chemist  calls  Sodium 
Chloride.  This  gives  the  "salt"  taste  to  the  water.  There  is  also 
Sodium  Sulphate  and  Magnesium  Sulphate  in  the  water  of  many  lakes, 
and  this  is  bitter  to  the  taste  and  affects  the  digestive  organs  of  animals 
that  drink  it.  There  are  also  other  salts  such  as  the  Sulphates  of  Potas- 
sium and  Calcium  (lime),  and  the  Carbonates  of  Magnesium,  Potas- 
sium and  Calcium.  If  common  salt  or  Sodium  Chloride  is  present  in 
the  \vater  in  larger  quantity  than  any  of  the  others  the  water  is  called 
"salt"  water.  If  it  contains  a  larger  quantity  of  some  salt  which  is 
bitter  to  the  taste  it  is  apt  to  be  spoken  of  as  "bitter"  or  "alkali"  water. 

Waters  which  are. "hard"  contain  some  kind  of  salt,  usually  Calcium 
Carbonate  or  Calcium  Sulphate  (gypsum).  Rain  water  is  "soft"  be- 
cause when  water  is  evaporated  the  mineral  salt  is  left  behind,  and 
when  the  vapor  condenses  into  clouds  and  falls  as  rain  it  is  free  from 
any  salt.  Not  all  waters  which  contain  salts  are  "hard,"  nor  are  all 
"soft"  waters  free  from  salts.  The  waters  from  the  artesian  wells  at 
Jamestown  and  Devils  Lake  are  "soft,"  but  they  contain  a  large 
amount  of  salts.  These  waters  are  not  hard  because  the  salts  in  them 
are  not  such  as  to  give  the  water  the  character  of  "hardness."  Hard 
water  is  not  good  for  washing  because  the  salt  in  it  forms  a  chemical 
combination  with  the  soap  and  a  new  "soap"  is  formed  which  will  not 
dissolve  in  water.  The  soap  thus  formed  floats  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  forming  a  greasy  "scum." 

Hard  waters  are  agreeable  to  the  taste  and  are  generally  good  for 
drinking  if  not  too  hard.  Water  which  is  hard  from  the  presence  in  it 
of  Calcium  Carbonate  can  be  "softened"  or  "purified"  by  boiling,  which 
causes  the  limestone  to  fall  to  the  bottom  as  a  fine,  white  powder,  or  to 


128  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

collect  in  scales  on  the  sides  of  the  vessel  in  which  it  is  boiled.  This  is 
called  "temporary "-hardness.  Water  which  contains  Calcium  Sulphate 
or  gypsum  is  "permanently"  hard  for  it  is  not  affected  by  boiling. 

The  Sources  of  the  Salts  and  Alkalies.— The  explanation  of  the  origin 
of  the  salts  in  "alkali"  waters  lies  in  the  fact  that  these  minerals  are  in 
the  rocks  of  the  earth.  The  Cretaceous  shales  contain  them,  for  they 
were  present  in  the  sea-waters  at  the  time  these  rocks  were  deposited 
on  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  We  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter  that  a 
great  arm  of  the  ocean  once  covered  North  Dakota  and  the  rocks 
which  underlie  the  drift  were  deposited  as  sediments  on  its  bottom. 
The  ice  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  ploughed  up  these  rocks  and  ground 
them  into  the  fine  soil,  sand  and  clay  which  now  covers  the  old  land 
surface.  What  has  been  called  in  a  former  chapter  "New  North  Da- 
kota" has  been  made  from  the  broken  and  pulverized  top  of  "Old 
North  Dakota."  The  till  or  drift  earth  which  was  thus  ploughed  up 
from  the  Cretaceous  shales  has  given  to  the  soil  its  alkaline  character. 
The  salts,  Sodium  Sulphate  and  Magnesium  Sulphate,  are  among  the 
minerals  in  the  soil,  but  other  salts  which  dissolve  in  water,  such  as 
Potassium  Sulphate  and  Sodium  Carbonate,  also  occur,  and  altogether 
make  up  the  "alkali"  which  distinguishes  the  soils  and  the  waters  of 
this  region  from  those  of  the  northern  states  farther  east. 

The  minerals  or  salts  which  make  the  water  "hard"  are  Calcium 
Carbonate  (limestone)  and  Calcium  Sulphate  (gypsum).  These  have 
been  derived  also  from  the  Cretaceous  shales.  Pure  limestone  is  the 
mineral  Calcium  Carbonate,  and  the  drift  which  has  come  from  a  lime- 
stone region  contains  this  rock  pulverized  in  the  soil,  and  so  this  be- 
comes a  cause  of  hardness  of  the  waters.  In  the  Red  River  Valley  and 
also  farther  West  the  drift  contains  a  large  amount  of  this  rock  which 
has  been  ground  to  powder,  and  this  adds  greatly  to  the  productive- 
ness of  the  soil. 

These  salts  are  therefore  seen  to  be  in  the  soil  and  when  the  rain 
falls  upon  the  ground  it  dissolves  them  and  becomes  "hard"  or  "salt" 
again,  and  as  the  waters  flow  down  the  coulees  or  streams  into  the 
lakes  and  there  again  are  evaporated  the  lakes  become  "salt"  or  "al- 
kali." If  the  lakes  have  outlets  then  the  salt  is  carried  on  in  the  water 
which  flows  out  of  the  lakes  and  away  to  the  ocean,  and  as  the  ocean 
cannot  have  an  "outlet"  the  waters  of  the  seas  become  salt. 

Salt  Beds  on  Dry  Lake  Bottoms. — Sometimes  a  large  inland  lake  be- 
comes so  salt  from  the  long  continued  evaporation  of  the  waters,  a  little 


SALT  AND  ALKALINE   WATERS   IN   LAKES.  129 

salt  being  generally  present  in  the  waters  of  the  earth's  surface,  that 
the  lake  becomes  a  great  tank  of  brine,  and  after  a  while  becomes  so 
"strong"  that  it  cannot  hold  any  more  salt  in  solution,  and  finally  salt 
begins  to  fall  to  the  bottom.  Or  if  the  lake  is  small  so  that  it  frequently 
becomes  dry  the  salt  left  by  evaporation  upon  the  bottom  may  not  all 
be  re-dissolved  when  the  waters  again  fill  the  basin.  If  but  little  mud 
or  fine  earth  is  carried  into  the  lake  by  streams  and  the  "salt"  in  the 
water  is  mostly  "common  salt,"  beds  of  salt  will  accumulate  on  the 
bottom  of  the  lake.  These  may  become  of  considerable  thickness  and 
may  be  almost  pure  salt. 

Xow,  if  for  any  reason  a  lake  where  this  process  has  been  going  on 
for  a  long  time  should  permanently  dry  up  here  might  be  salt  beds  of 
great  value.  Such  salt  beds  occur  in  some  of  the  Western  States, 
where  the  dry  salt  can  be  shoveled  from  the  ground  in  great  quantities. 
It  is  said  that  salt  has  been  shoveled  up  and  hauled  away  in  wagons  for 
stock  purposes  from  such  salt  lakes. 


CHAPTER  THE  FOURTEENTH. 

MAP  STUDIES:   DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE   LAKES   UPON  THE 
LANDSCAPE. 

Map  Studies;  The  Lakes  of  North  Dakota. — A  map  ought  to  mean 
more  than  dots  and  lines  and  shaded  areas.  We  ought  to  be  able  to 
see  in  a  map  of  the  State  a  picture  of  the  landscape.  The  "map  stud- 
ies" in  our  geographies  do  not  sometimes  mean  as  much  as  they  ought 
to.  Let  us  notice  the  distribution  of  the  lakes  of  our  State  and  see  if 
we-  can  make  these  have  a  meaning  as  landscape  features. 

In  'the  light  of  the  studies  we  have  made  in  the  preceding  pages  it 
will  not  be  difficult  to  see  that  all  the  lakes  in  the  State,  while  they 
are  all  "glacial"  lakes  and  hence  all  belong  in  one  great  class,  yet  they 
fall  into  about  a  dozen  groups,  in  each  of  which  groups  there  is  a 
meaning  as  a  landscape  feature. 

The  McLean  County  Group. — Look  first  at  the  .group  of  lakes  in 
McLean  county.  Does  their  position  strike  you  as  having  any  sug- 
gestion in  it?  Look  at  the  Map,  Figure  i,  and  you  see  that  the  great 
Altamont  Moraine,  the  one  called  the  First,  or  the  outer  one  formed 
at  the  edge  of  the  great  Dakota  Glacier  of  the  ice-sheet,  makes  a  turn 
or  loop  toward  the  big  elbow  where  the  Missouri  River  turns  south- 
ward. Some  of  the  highest  and  most  rugged  and  stony  drift  hills  in 
the  State  are  here.  You  notice  that  these  lakes  are  in  chains  or  sort 
of  crooked  rows.  This  is  more  than  accident.  When  the  ice  of  the 
great  ice-sheet  had  its  edge  here  great  glacial  streams  poured  from  it 
into  the  Missouri  River,  and  cut  large  valleys  in  the  drift  which  had 
been  left  from  the  melting  ice.  Some  of  them  also  were  probably  val- 
leys before  the  ice  came  and  were  not  entirely  filled  by  the  drift.  These 
streams  did  not  last  long  because  the  ice  melted  back  so  that  the  water 
ceased  to  flow  through  them.  A  short  time  though  as  used  in  geol- 
ogy is  usually  a  good  many  years.  Their  bottoms  were  not  in  many 
cases  made  smooth  by  the  streams,  and  when  the  ice  had  melted  and 
the  water  was  no  longer  compelled  to  flow  through  these  channels  the 


MAP   STUDIES.  131 

hollows  remained  and  became  filled  with  water  and  formed  lakes. 
'When  the  water  is  high  in  the  spring  it  often  overflows  from  one  to 
another  and  may  even  pass  to  the  Missouri  River  in  some  of  these 
old  channels.  It  may  escape  from  Strawberry  Lake  near  Dog  Den 
Butte  across  by  a  long  series  of  lakes  and  sloughs  to  the  river,  and  in 
a  similar  manner  from  Brush  and  Pelican  Lakes  to  the  Missouri  River. 

About  forty  miles  west  of  Fessenden  is  Pony  Gulch,  a  broad  val- 
ley extending  for  many  miles  across  the  great  Missouri  Plateau,  the 
Coteau  du  Missouri.  This  is  a  valley  in  which  probably  a  stream 
flowed  eastward  before  the  drainage  systems  were  changed  by  the  ice 
filling  them,  but  when  the  ice-sheet  lay  9ver  all  the  eastern  part  of 
the  State,  filling  all  the  riveV  valleys,  a  glacial  river  probably  flowed  west- 
ward into  the  Missouri  River,  which  you  will  remember  was  not  cov- 
ered by  the  ice.  The  waters  from  Lake  Souris  were  very  likely  car- 
ried across  by  this  channel  to  the  Missouri  for  a  time,  as  we  saw  in 
another  chapter.  The  hollow  places  along  the  bottom  of  this  old  chan- 
nel are  now  beset  with  lakes. 

The  Kidder  and  Logan  County  Group. — In  northern  Burleigh,  Kidder, 
western  Stutsman,  Logan,  and  northern  Mclntosh  Counties  is  another 
group  of  lakes  some  of  which  also  mark  old  glacial  channels  where  the 
ice-waters  surged  over  into  the  Missouri  River.  These  lie  in  hollows 
among  the  hills  of  the  First  and  Second  or  Altamont  and  Gary  Mo- 
raines. These  are  all  upon  the  top  of  the  great  Coteau,  or  Plateau 
of  the  Missouri,  and  hence  are  on  the  "Missouri  Slope." 

It  is  probable  that  the  James  River  flowed  across  by  the  Hawk's 
Nest  in  southeastern  Wells  County  by  this  group  of  lakes  in  Kidder 
County  to  the  Missouri  River  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Third 
or  Antelope  Moraine,  for  at  this  time  the  ice-sheet  covered  the  land 
as  far  west  as  Carrington,  and  its  edge  lay  upon  the  plateau  to  the 
south,  so  that  the  river  could  not  follow  its  present  course  southward. 

The  Chains  of  Lakes — Another  group  consists  of  the  lakes  in  Foster, 
eastern  Stutsman,  and  western  Barnes  Counties.  The  James  River 
flows  for  nearly  thirty  miles  along  the  course  of  the  Fourth  or  Kiester 
Moraine.  The  river  probably  begun  to  cut  its  channel  here  when  the 
moraine  was  being  deposited  from  the  melting  ice  and  the  river  flowed 
along  the  edge  of  the  ice.  Sometimes  the  materials  from  the  moraine 
were  dumped  into  the  channel  of  the  river  so  that  its  waters  were 
dammed  up  and  lakes  were  formed.  Such  lakes  are  the  Jim  and  the 
Arrow  Wood,  in  northern  Stutsman. 


132  THE  STORY  OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

The  Spiritwood  Chain  of  Lakes  and  four  other  chains  of  lakes 
which  cross  or  lie  near  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  between  Valley 
City  and  Spiritwood  station,  lie  in  deep  channels  which  were  the  places 
of  large  glacial  streams  during  the  time  the  ice-sheet  was  melting  back 
from  the  position  of  the  Fourth  or  Kiester  to  the  Seventh  or  Dovre 
Moraine.  Lake  Eckelson  lies  in  one  of  these  old  channels  which  is 
five  miles  long  extending  south  to  Walker  Lake.  Another  lies  about 
two  miles  west,  and  the  old  channel  is  six  miles  long.  Another  also 
about  six  miles  in  length  is  just  east  of  Sanborn,  and  there  is  still 
another  extending  south  from  Hobart. 

These  lakes  are  along  the  bottoms  of  channels  forty  feet  below  the 
general  land  surface.  These  channels  may  mark  the  places  of  old  val- 
leys on  the  pre-glacial  landscape  which  were  not  filled  by  the  drift  so 
but  that  the  flood  waters  from  the  melting  ice  flowed  in  their  courses 
and  cut  these  channels  in  the  soft  drift  which  partly  filled  them. 

A  Picturesque  Group  in  Griggs  County. — One  of  the  prettiest  groups 
of  lakes  in  the  State  and  surrounded  by  the  most  picturesque  morainic 
hills  is  that  in  Griggs  County,  and  extending  also  north  into  Eddy 
County.  The  group  consists  of  Lakes  Jessie,  Addie,  Sibley,  Clear,  and 
Red  Willow,  besides  many  small  ones,  and  also  the  North  and  South 
Washington  Lakes  in  Eddy  County,  and  Free  People's  Lake,  on  the 
Indian  Reservation  north  of  the  Sheyenne  River.  From  Devils  Heart 
Hill  across  the  Sheyenne  at  the  Morris  ford  to  McHenry  and  Coopers- 
town  is  a  continuous  series  of  lakes  and  hills.  West  of  Cooperstown 
are  the  high,  steep,  rounded  knobs  of  the  Dovre  Moraine,  rising  sev- 
enty-five to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  surrounding  prairie, 
covered  often  thickly  with  large  granite  and  limestone  boulders,  and 
among  these  hills  are  the  silvery  sheets  of  water  of  the  lakes  named. 
The  Washington  Lakes  in  Eddy  County  are  walled  in  between  the  hills 
of  the  Elysian  and  the  Waconia  (Fifth  and  Sixth)  Moraines.  These 
lakes  are  interesting  as  having  old  forests  with  their  stumps  still  stand- 
ing below  the  water  along  shore,  showing  that  the  water  has  been 
much  lower  in  them  at  some  time.  The  cut  banks  or  cliffs  on  the  sides 
of  these  and  others  of  the  group  show  that  the  water  has  also  been 
considerably  higher  than  it  is  now. 

The  Devils  Lake  Group. — The  long  series  of  lakes  extending  from  the 
small  sheets  east  of  Stump  Lake  for  more  than  100  miles  northwest 
nearly  to  the  Turtle  Mountains,  including  from  the  east  the  two  small 
lakes  east  of  Stump  Lake,  Stump,  Devils,  Ibsen,  Hurricane,  Grass, 


MAP   STUDIES.  133 

Island,  and  Long  Lakes,  as  has  been  explained  before,  probably  were 
all  formed  in  the  valley  of  an  old  or  pre-glacial  river  by  the  partial 
filling  of  this  valley  with  drift.  These  lakes,  therefore,  have  a  quite 
different  meaning  as  landscape  features  from  those  in  the  Griggs 
County  group  just  described,  which  are  "morainic  lakes"  pure  and 
simple. 

The  Group  North  of  Devils  Lake — North  of  Devils  Lake  is  a  group 
of  lakes  which  are  cut  off  from  draining  into  Devils  Lake  by  the  range 
of  morainic  hills  which  lies  between  it  and  them.  These  lie  in  broad 
flat  hollows  or  "pans."  This  range  of  hills,  which  belongs  to  the 
Itasca  (Tenth)  Moraine,  lies  close  along  their  southern  shores  and 
hojds  their  waters  from  escaping  into  Devils  Lake,  their  waters  pushing 
up  into  the  hollows  between  the  hills  forming  many  small  bays. 

Quite  a  large  area  to  the  north  is  drained  into  these  lakes,  and  in 
times  of  high  water  or  during  periods  of  years  when  the  amount  of 
rainfall  is  greater,  these  lakes  increase  in  size,  rising  and  spreading  out 
in  area,  and  become  connected  by  sluggish  streams.  They  may  thus 
at  times  become  connected  with  the  Mauvaise  Coulee  and  so  drain  for 
a  time  into  Devils  Lake.  Sweetwater  Lake  has  sometimes  risen  high 
enough  so  that  its  waters  overflowed  the  rim  of  its  basin  and  dis- 
charged directly  across  to  the  south  into  Devils  Lake. 

If  the  position  of  these  lakes  in  relation  to  Devils  Lake  is  noticed 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  three  larger,  Sweetwater,  Dry,  and  the  Twin 
Lakes  (Lake  Irwin  and  Lac  aux  Morts  or  Lake  of  Death),  lie  directly 
north  of  the  three  large  bays  or  arms  of  Devils  Lake.  It  has  been 
suggested  already  that  Devils  Lake  probably  lies  in  the  hollow  of  an 
old  partially  filled  valley  and  that  its  larger  bays  or  arms  may  be  due 
to  tributary  valleys  entering  the  old  main  valley.  The  position  of  these 
lakes,  with  the  moraine  forming  a  barrier  to  prevent  their  draining 
into  Devils  Lake,  suggests  that  they  may  lie  in  the  same  tributary 
valleys  in  which  the  three  large  arms  of  Devils  Lake  lie,  and  that  the 
moraine  which  crosses  these  tributary  valleys  in  an  east  and  west 
direction  dammed  their  courses  and  so  caused  the  lakes  to  gather 
above  where  the  valleys  are  filled. 

This  suggestion  of  valleys  in  the  old  or  pre-glacial  landscape  of 
this  region  is  further  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  wells  which  are  dug 
or  drilled  about  the  City  of  Devils  Lake  and  in  the  surrounding  country 
vary  very  much  in  depth  within  short  distances,  but  all  penetrating 
down  below  the  drift  to  the  old  land  surface,  the  Cretaceous  shale. 


134  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

Along  the  International  Boundary. — A  number  of  lakes  lying  near  the 
International  Boundary  and  east  of  the  Turtle  Mountains  are  good 
examples  of  a  class  of  lakes  which  owe  their  existence  to  the  action  of 
the  ice-sheet,  and  hence  are  "glacial"  lakes,  but  which  are  not  mo- 
rainic.  They  lie  in  shallow  pan-like  depressions  in  the  region  between 
moraines.  Their  basins  often  have  their  bottoms  and  sides  in  glacial 
clay  of  till,  but  they  may  also  lie  in  hollows  which  were  scooped  out 
in  the  Cretaceous  shales  by  the  moving  ice.  There  are  many  such 
lakes  in  the  State.  Those  here  described  lie  between  the  ranges  or  belts 
of  hills  of  the  Itasca  (Tenth)  Moraine. 

It  has  been  before  explained  that  the  Itasca  Moraine  extends  across 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  State  in  a  northwest  and  southeast  direc- 
tion. It  is  a  compound  moraine,  being  made  up  of  several  ranges 
or  belts  lying  between  Devils  Lake  and  Pembina  Mountain.  Lying 
between  the  belt  or  wide  range  of  hills  which  extends  from  the  shore 
of  Lake  Agassiz  west  of  Inkster  northwest  to  the  International  Boun- 
dary in  the  northeast  corner  of  Towner  county,  and  the  moraine  lying 
upon  the  top  of  Pembina  Mountain  which  was  formed  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Dakota  Lobe  or  Glacier,  are  Rose  Lake,  six  miles  east  of  Lang- 
don,  Rush  Lake,  near  Hannah,  a  small  lake  near  Mt.  Carmel,  east  of 
Hannah,  and  a  fourth  about  five  miles  north  of  Osnabrock.  Between 
the  range  which  lies  west  of  these  lakes  and  the  next  large  range  still 
farther  west,  which  extends  from  north  of  Lakota  to  the  east  of  Cando 
and  to  the  Turtle  Mountains,  lie  Lac  des  Roches,  near  the  Interna- 
tional Boundary  in  Towner  county,  which  has  been  before  spoken  of 
as  lying  in  the  line  of  outlet  of  old  Lake  Souris,  and  Rock  Lake,  about 
four  miles  west  of  Lac  des  Roches. 

All  these  lakes  have  inflowing  streams  or  small  coulees  feeding 
them.  The  four  first  named  are  drained  by  outlet  streams,  Rose  Lake 
being  drained  by  the  Tongue  River,  Rush  by  the  Pembina  River,  Mt. 
Carmel  by  the  Little  Pembina  River,  and  Osnabrock  by  Park  River. 
All  these  streams  have  cut  deep  channels  into  the  Pembina  Mountain 
highland,  for  in  flowing  down  its  steep  front  their  currents  become 
swift.  They  have  worked  back  and  "tapped"  these  lakes  since  the 
ice-sheet  melted,  that  is,  since  the  close  of  the  Glacial  Period.  In  a 
short  time — short  as  time  is  measured  in  geology — these  lakes  will 
have  been  drained  and  become  meadows,  for  their  outlets  will  be  cut 
down  and  their  waters  will  be  drawn  off. 

But  with  Lac  des  Roches  and  Rock  Lake  the  case  is  different.     No 


MAP   STUDIES. 


135 


stream  has  worked  back  so  as  to  tap  them.  Streams  have  worked 
back  from  their  basins  into  the  higher  land  which  surrounds  them  and 
now  bring  water  to  them  but  this  only  makes  them  spread  out  the 
more.  The  old  channel  along  the  course  of  Mauvaise  Coulee  is  almost 
up  grade  till  after  it  crosses  the  belt  of  morainic  hills  to  the  south. 
When  the  flood  waters  of  Lake  Souris  came  this  way  it  forced  a  pas- 
sage over  the  moraine  after  Lac  des  Roches  had  spread  out  so  that  it 
and  Rock  Lake  were  probably  united  into  one  large  lake. 

The  Turtle  Mountain  Group — When  it  is  remembered  that  this  plateau 
rises    about    600    feet    above    the    surrounding   prairie    it    will    seem 


FIG.  60.    Township  163,  Range  74.    Top  ol Turtle  Mountain,  showing  the  great  number  of  small 
Morainic  Lakes. 


the  more  surprising  that  there  are  so  many  lakes  on  its  top,  for  there 
are  probably  not  less  than  200  large  enough  to  be  shown  on  a  map. 
Fish  Lake,  twelve  miles  north  of  Bottineau,  its  north  end  extending  a 
little  across  the  International  Boundary,  is  one  of  the  prettiest 
sheets  of  water  in  the  State.  Other  lakes  worthy  of  note  are  Kippax, 
Constance,  Butte,  Magog,  Waukastian,  Nemo  and  many  others. 

It  will  be  seen  from  Figure  i  that  a  broad  belt  of  the  Itasca  Mo- 
raine crosses  the  Turtle  Mountains,  and  many  of  the  lakes  are  "mo- 


136  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

rainic"  lakes  scattered  amongst  the  rounded  hills  in  little  round  and 
irregular  hollows. 

The  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau  is  about  forty  miles  long  and  twenty- 
five  miles  wide  in  its  widest  part,  lying  mostly  in  North  Dakota.  Its 
top  is  forest  covered,  and  very  much  broken  and  rolling  due  to  the  drift 
hills  of  the  moraine  just  spoken  of,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  the  plateau 
was  cut  up  by  creeks  and  coulees  before  the  ice-sheet  pushed  across  it, 
and  many  of  these  hills  were  too  large  to  be  entirely  leveled  down.  In 
the  hollows  among  the  old,  that  is,  the  pre-glacial,  hills,  which  are  often 
only  partially  filled  with  drift,  occur  many  of  the  lakes. 

The  Big  Coulee  Group. — Buffalo  and  Girard  Lakes  and  a  series  of 
small  lakes  in  Pierce  county  lie  in  the  valley  which  was  the  outlet  of 
Lake  Souris  before  the  time  of  the  outlet  by  Lac  des  Roches.  These 
lakes  differ  in  character  from  the  great  number  of  small  lakes  which 
are  scattered  among  the  hills  in  that  neighborhood  which  are  morainic 
lakes.  These  which  lie  along  the  bottom  of  the  old  channel  are  formed 
by  the  water  which  collects  there  from  rains,  and  which  cannot  escape 
because  there  is  not  enough  water  to  flood  the  old  channel  so«  as  to 
cause  a  current.  The  water,  therefore,  stands  upon  the  bottom  in  the 
low  places,  forming  lakes  and  sloughs.  "Big  Coulee"  Creek  is  a  small 
stream  lying  in  the  valley,  one  of  the  head  streams  of  the  Sheyenne 
River,  but  it  is  a  mere  little  pool  which  soaks  along  the  bottom  of  the 
great  wide  valley.  As  the  Sheyenne  cuts  its  channel  deeper  and  low- 
ers the  mouth  of  the  Big  Coulee  Creek  this  creek  will  become  more 
swift  at  its  mouth  and  drain  the  lakes  which  lie  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
old  channel. 

A  Group  of  Typical  Morainic  Lakes. — The  great  number  of  lakes  in 
western  Benson,  Pierce,  and  eastern  McHenry  Counties  are  morainic 
lakes, — small  and  larger  basins,  or  "pots  and  kettles,"  of -water  hemmed 
in  by  the  steep,  irregular,  and  knobby  rounded  morainic  hills. 

Many  of  these  hills  are  sandy,  from  the  ground-up  sand-rock  of 
the  Fox  Hills  Sandstone  (one  of  the  Cretaceous  formations)  which  is 
the  underlying  rock  south  of  the  Turtle  Mountains.  Some  of  the  lakes 
in  this  group  lie  among  the  sand  blown  hills  (dunes)  of  the  Lake  Souris 
bottom.  These  hills,  which  were  dumped  into  the  lake  as  moraines. 
were  not  entirely  leveled  by  the  waves  of  the  lake,  but  the  sand  of  the 
hills  on  its  southeastern  shore  was  washed  and  assorted  by  the  waves, 
and  this  is  now  blown  by  the  winds  into  dunes,  sometimes  filling  the 


MAP   STUDIES.  137 

lakes  which  lie  in  the  hollows.  The  lakes  are  sometimes  entirely  filled, 
just  as  trees  are  buried  by  the  drifting  sand. 

The  "Alkali  Flats." — South  and  west  of  Balfour,  Anamoose,  and 
Harvey,  lying  along  the  foot  of  the  high  front  of  the  great  Missouri 
Plateau,  are  what  are  known  as  the  "Alkali  Flats."  Many  broad  flat 
bottoms  are  occupied  by  shallow  lakes  or  sloughs.  The  water  is 
strong  of  alkali,  as  are  all  the  lakes  farther  west  which  have  no  outlets, 
The  headwaters  of  the  Sheyenne  River  have  a  sluggish  beginning  in 
this  region,  but  there  is  almost  no  fall  toward  the  Sheyenne  in  the 
flat  surface  from  'Dog  Den  Butte  to  western  Wells  County.  A  coulee 
from  Pony  Gulch  and  others  from  off  the  high  front  of  the  plateau 
flow  out  upon  the  "flats"  and  spread  out  as  lakes.  The  shores  and 
dry  bottoms  of  the  lakes  are  white  from  the  "alkali"  salt  left  by  evapo- 
ration during  the  dry  season  of  summer.  These  salts  dissolve  again  in 
the  water  when  the  wet  season  returns. 

When  either  a  natural  or  an  artificial  system  of  drainage  shall  carry 
away  the  surface  waters  from  these  regions  "the  flats"  will  become 
valuable  lands.  They  are  rendered  nearly  valueless  now  by  the  ac- 
cumulation of  alkali  by  evaporation  of  the  waters. 

The  "Alkali"  Lakes  in  the  Far  West — The  lakes  in  western  Ward  and 
Williams  Counties  which  lie  upon  the  top  of  the  high  northern  portion 
of  the  great  Missouri  Plateau,  are  among  the  most  strongly  alkaline,  if 
not  the  most  so,  of  any  in  the  State.  This  is  because  the  rock  strata 
of  which  the  plateau  is  composed,  known  as  the  Laramie  formation 
(Cretaceous),  are  even  more  alkaline  than  those  rocks  which  underlie 
the  drift  in  the  central  and  eastern  portions  of  the  State.  Many  of  these 
alkali  lakes  lie  in  hollows  in  the  underlying  rock,  which  is  covered  by 
only  a  thin  mantle  of  drift.  The  water  of  some  of  these  lakes  is  a 
bitter  brine. 

The  River  of  Lakes. — Another  group  of  lakes  in  Ward  County  is  of 
more  than  usual  interest.  This  is  a  group  nearly  forty  miles  in  length 
which  lies  in  the  old  glacial  river  valley  which  once  brought  the  waters 
of  Lake  Saskatchewan  from  far  north  in  Canada,  and  also  the  waters 
from  the  edge  of  the  melting  ice  all  along  its  course,  to  Lake  Souris. 

There  are  three  lakes  in  this  series,  the  one  farthest  east  and  south 
being  a  small,  pretty  sheet  of  water  one  or  two  miles  long.  This  is 
followed  by  a  marsh  and  low  meadow  which  separate  this  from  the  next 
lake,  which  is  about  three  miles  long.  Then  a  marsh  and  a  meadow 
again  follow  for  a  mile  or  two,  and  then  a  continuous  and  beautiful 


138  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

sheet,  or  silvery  ribbon,  of  water  extends  to  the  northwest  for  thirty 
miles,  having  a  width  of  about  half  a  mile,  its  northern  end  extend- 
ing about  two  miles  into  Canada.  Des  Lacs  River,  which  drains  (?) 
these  lakes  is  a  small,  narrow  ditch  winding  back  and  forth  across  the 
flat  bottom  of  the  broad  and  deep  valley,  and  enters  the  Mouse  River  at 
Burlington,  about  five  miles  west  of  Minot. 

Salt  Lakes  From  Artesian  Springs.— A  remarkable  group  of  lakes  lies 
upon  the  level  prairies  in  Grand  Forks  and  Walsh  Counties,  between 
the  city  of  Grand  Forks  and  Grafton  and  north  of  Graf- 
ton.  These  are  salt  lakes  which  owe  their  origin  and  the  saltness  of 
their  waters  to  the  same  causes  as  those  which  produce  artesian  wells 
in  the  Red  River  Valley.  Springs  which  furnish  salt  water  burst  out 
upon  the  level  prairie,  the  water  having  the  same  source  far  west  of 
the  Red  River  Valley  as  the  water  which  is  obtained  by  drilling  artesian 
wells  on  the  Red  River  bottom  lands.  In  fact,  these  springs  are  natural 
artesian  wells,  the  water  being  forced  up  through  gravelly  veins  in  the 
drift  or  till  which  fills  the  valley,  and  having  its  "head"  or  source  in  the 
high  lands  which  flank  the  Rocky  Mountains.  These  springs  make 
the  streams  which  start  upon  the  highlands  which  formed  the  western 
shore  of  Lake  Agassiz  streams  of  salt  water.  There  being  not  enough 
fall  to  the  almost  level  prairie  to  cause  drainage  into  the  Red  River 
their  waters  spread  out  into  marshes  and  lakes,  and  the  water  which 
comes  to  the  surface  in  the  region  of  the  lakes  in  springs  adds  to  their 
volume,  and  hence  the  salt  marshes. 


CHAPTER    THE    FIFTEENTH. 
LAKES  AS  A  LANDSCAPE   FEATURE. 

The  Meaning  of  Lakes  on  a  Landscape. — Lakes  as  a  landscape  feature 
mean  "youth,"  that  is,  the  landscape  is  young  in  the  sense  that  there 
has  not  been  time  for  river  systems  such  as  were  described  in  the  first 
chapter  to  be  developed.  The  landscape  is  as  yet  largely  undrained  by 
streams.  A  comparison  of  that  portion  of  the  State  lying  west  of  the 
Missouri  River  with  the  great  portion  east  of  it  will  show  the  difference 
between  an  "older"  and  a  "younger"  landscape. 

We  have  noticed  already  the  many  lakes  scattered  over  that  part  of 
the  State  which  is  east  of  the  Missouri  River.  West  of  the  river  we  see 
none  marked  on  the  map,  for  there  are  none.  If  there  were  once  lakes 
there  they  have  been  drained.  All  of  the  hollows  have  outlets,  and  are 
valleys.  East  of  the  river  most  of  the  hollows  do  not  have  outlets,  and 
are  basins.  The  landscape  west  is  therefore  "older;"  that  east  is 
"younger."  West  of  the  river  drainage  systems  have  become  estab- 
lished, and  streams  have  cut  the  landscape  into  hills,  and  these  hills  are 
being  worn  down  and  carried  to  the  sea.  East  of  the  river  few  streams 
mark  the  landscape,  and  the  cutting  of  the  prairies  into  hills  has  just 
begun.  West  of  the  river  the  hills  have  been  carved  upon  the  face  of 
the  landscape.  East  of  the  river  the  hills  are  mostly  "dumped"  hills, 
or  heaps  and  irregular  ridges  piled  upon  the  landscape. 

W'hat  has  been  the  cause  of  these  marked  differences  we  have  al- 
ready seen.  It  was  the  great  ice-plow  which  leveled  down  the  hills 
and  filled  the  valleys  of  the  original  landscape  and  piled  these  hills  on 
the  surface  as  it  melted  away.  As  this  great  ice-sheet  reached  only  to 
the  Missouri  River  the  region  west  of  this  river  has  not  been  ploughed 
down  and  leveled  and  covered  with  dumped  hills.  There  the  landscape 
is  "older"  because  the  processes  which  carve  and  fashion  all  landscapes 
have  been  going  on  longer  than  east  of  the  river,  where  they  had  to 
begin  all  over  again  after  the  Glacial  Period. 


140  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

The  rocks  are  not  any  older  in  years  west  of  the  river  than  they  are 
east  of  it;  in  fact,  the  oldest  rocks  in  the  State,  as  to  the  time  they  have 
been  in  existence  as  rocks,  are  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  as  we 
shall  see  in  a  later  chapter.  It  is  the  form  of  the  landscape  which  is 
older.  When  the  hills  west  of  the  Missouri  River  have  all  been  washed 
away,  or  nearly  so,  so  that  there  are  no  high,  steep,  flat-topped  hills, 
and  the  whole  region  is  worn  down  to  base-level,  then  the  landscape 
will  have  reached  its  old  age. 

In  all  the  State  east  of  the  Missouri  River  drainage  systems  are  just 
getting  started.  These  are  the  "coulees"  which,  starting  from  the  river 
valleys,  old  channels  and  lakes,  have  pushed  back  upon  the  landscape. 
Wherever  there  is  a  low  place  water  collects  from  the  falling  rain  and  lit- 
tle streams  begin  to  work  back  into  the  surrounding  land.  In  time  larger 
streams  will  become  established  and  their  heads  will  work  back  into 
the  surrounding  land  and  tap  the  lakes.  The  lakes  will  be  drained  by 
the  cutting  down  of  their  outlets,  and  so  in  time  there  will  cease  to  be 
any  lakes,  and  the  prairies  will  have  been  cut  up  into  hills. 

The  rapidity  with  which  river  systems  get  started  in  any  particular 
region  depends  upon  the  mouths  of  the  streams.  If  the  streams  pour' 
their  waters  into  a  deep  basin,  or  if  they  fall  suddenly  down  from  a 
highland  or  plateau  upon  a  considerably  lower  plain,  they  will  cut  their 
channels  down  and  push  their  heads  back  rapidly,  and  the  highland 
will  become  soon  dissected  into  hills.  The  landscape  may  be  said  to 
"grow  old"  rapidly.  But  if  the  whole  region  is  low,  that  is,  if  there  is 
no  place  which  is  quite  a  good  deal  lower  into  which  the  waters  can 
discharge,  then  streams  will  push  back  upon  the  landscape  and  cut 
their  channels  very  slowly,  and  the  rain  which  falls  upon  the  land  will 
lie  upon  its  surface  and  in  the  soil  till  evaporation  removes  it. 

Nearly  perfect  examples  of  landscapes  which  are  "growing  old" 
rapidly  are  the  plateau  top  of  Pembina  Mountain,  and  the  top  of  the 
Turtle  Mountain  Plateau.  Of  those  which  are  lingering  long  in  the 
youthful  stage  are  the  almost  perfectly  flat  plain  of  the  Red  River  Val- 
ley, and  the  region  of  the  group  of  lakes  north  of  Devils  Lake.  To  the 
latter  class,  however,  belongs  most  of  the  State  east  of  the  Missouri 
River. 

All  these  regions  began  their  "infancy"  nearly  at  the  same  time, 
which  was  after  the  close  of  the  Ice  Age,  or  the  Glacial  Period.  But 
the  region  of  eastern  Cavalier  and  western  Walsh  Counties,  and  the 
top  of  the  Turtle  Mountains,  will  be  cut  up  into  hilly  landscapes  and  be 


LAKES  AS  A   LANDSCAPE   FEATURE.  141 

reaching  "middle  age"  while  yet  the  plain  of  the  Red  River  Valley 
and  the  region  north  of  Devils  Lake,  as  also  much  of  the  State  else- 
where, will  still  be  in  the  age  of  youth. 

This  is  because  the  Red  River  has  so  little  fall  that  it  cannot  deepen 
its  channel,  and  so  the  coulees  upon  the  prairies  cannot  lower  their 
mouths,  and  the  water  which  falls  upon  the  broad  level  prairies  stands 
in  sheets  until  removed  by  evaporation.  In  the  Devils  Lake  region 
the  fall  in  any  direction  is  so  slight  that  only  the  faintest  beginnings 
of  drainage  have  been  developed.  Mauvaise  Coulee  enters  Devils 
Lake  from  the  north,  but  it  cannot  be  said  to  drain  the  lakes  with  which 
it  is  connected.  It  is  itself  a  long-drawn-out  slough  or  pool  which  is 
broader  at  those  places  where  it  spreads  out  into  lakes. 

In  the  case  of  the  Pembina  Mountain  top  all  the  streams  which  fall 
clown  its  steep  front  have  cut  deep  channels.  The  Pembina  River,  the 
Little  Pembina,  the  Tongue,  the  head  streams  or  coulees  of  the  Park, 
the  Forest  and  the  Turtle,  have  all  cut  deep  channels  down  through 
the  drift  into  the  underlying  shales.  This  is  because  of  the  fall  from 
the  top  of  the  high  plateau  down  to  the  low  prairie.  These  same 
streams  all  become  sluggish  pools  after  they  get  upon  the  valley  plain 
and  their  channels  become  long,  puddling  ponds.  The  high  prairie 
upon  the  plateau  top  of  Pembina  Mountain  will  become  cut  up  into 
hills  while  the  Red  River  Valley  still  remains  almost  undrained.  All 
the  larger  lakes  upon  this  plateau  have  already  been  tapped  by  the 
head  coulees  of  the  streams  named. 

The  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau  is  being  cut  into  by  the  coulees  which 
push  their  heads  back  from  the  prairie  up  the  steep  slope  of  the  high 
front.  All  around  the  mountain  on  any  good  map  streams  are  shown 
which  are  pushing  their  heads  back  onto  the  higher  land.  The  old 
valleys  which  were  partially  filled  with  drift,  many  of  which  were 
dammed,  forming  the  small  lakes,  will  be  cut  out  anew,  and  the  lakes 
which  are  scattered  among  the  hills  in  the  hollows  will  be  drained. 
Fish  Lake  and  the  series  of  lakes  lying  near  it  are  in  an  old  valley 
which  was  partly  filled  by  drift.  Oak  Creek  has  cut  a  deep  coulee  into 
the  side  of  the  mountain  and  already  draws  away  water  from  several 
small  lakes  in  the  series.  When  these  have  been  drained  by  the  deep- 
ening of  the  channel  it  will  later  draw  off  the  water  of  Fish  Lake,  and 
finally  the  whole  valley  will  be  re-opened  something  as  it  was  before 
the  great  ice-plow  moved  across  the  mountain's  top. 

A  good  illustration  of  the  tapping  of  a  lake  by  the  cutting  down  of 


142 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 


a  coulee  channel  and  the  pushing  back  of  its  head  is  furnished  by  Rush 
Lake,  on  the  Pembina  Mountain  highland  near  Hannah. 

It  will  be  seen  in  Figure  61  that  it  has  two  outlets.  The  lake  is 
a  shallow  clay-pan  of  water  only  a  few  feet  deep.  The  north  outlet  is 
the  old  outlet,  one  which  was  established  when  the  water  from  the 
melting  ice-sheet  made  the  lake  larger  than  it  is  now.  Pembina  River, 


FIG.  61.    Map  of  Rush  Lake,  Cavalier  County,  showing  two  outlets. 
From  a  Draiving  by  W.  A.  Hillier. 

which  is  only  a  few  miles  away,  flows  in  its  old,  or  pre-glacial,  channel. 
This  was  partially  filled  with  drift,  which  has  been  mostly  carried  away 
by  the  river,  and  the  river  has  cut  its  valley  still  deeper.  Snowflake 
Creek  has  cut  back  from  the  Pembina  Valley  as  a  tributary,  and  it,  too, 
has  cut  a  deep  gorge  or  channel,  because  its  mouth  is  made  low  by  the 
deep  gorge  of  the  Pembina  into  which  it  empties. 

Now,  it  chanced  that  a  low  place  in  the  land  surface  caused  a  small 
tributary,  t,  to  cut  back  from  Snowflake  Creek  at  the  fork  where  the  two 
'outlets  now  meet.  Snowflake  Creek  at  first  had  its  source  in  Rush 
Lake  through  the  north  outlet.  But  this  little  tributary  has  cut  down 
more  rapidly  than  the  north  outlet  owing  to  the  fact  that  more  water 
falls  over  its  sides,  it  being  in  a  slight  depression,  and  so  it  has  pushed 
its  head  rapidly  back. 


LAKES  AS  A   LANDSCAPE  FEATURE.  143 

It  happened  that  a  coulee,  c,  leading  into  the  lake  at  o  marked 
a  little  valley.  This  had  its  head  about  where  the  bend  in  the  south 
outlet  is  now.  At  length  the  little  tributary  coulee  from  Snowflake 
Creek  pushed  back  and  began  to  draw  the  water  of  the  little  coulee 
the  other  way.  So  the  little  coulee  which  at  first  flowed  into  the  lake 
was  reversed  and  its  channel  became  a  part  of  the  new  south  outlet. 

This  is  just  about  the  stage  in  which  the  two  outlets  are  now.  The 
north  outlet  is  still  the  main  outlet  of  the  lake,  that  is,  it  carries  a  little 
more  water  from  Rush  Lake  to  Snowflake  Creek  than  does  the  newer 
south  outlet.  But  the  south  outlet  at  t  has  a  deep  gorge  and  it  is 
rapidly  cutting  this  gorge  back  so  that  it  will  soon  lower  the  channel  of 
c,  and  this  will  then  become  the  principal  outlet,  and  soon  the  north 
outlet  will  cease  to  carry  away  water  from  the  lake  entirely.  Because 
the  channel  of  Pembina  River  is  deep  Snowflake  Creek  is  able  to  cut 
deeply  its  channel,  and  soon  the  rim  of  Rush  Lake  at  o  will  be  cut 
down  and  the  waters  of  the  lake  will  be  drawn  away,  and  its  bottom 
will  become  a  meadow. 


CHAPTER    THE    SIXTEENTH. 

THE   BAD   LANDS. 

Bad  Lands  to  Travel  Through — No  part  of  North  Dakota  is  perhaps 
more  widely  known  or  less  understood  than  that  part  of  the  State  styled 
the  "Bad  Lands."  Probably  about  no  part  of  the  State  are  there  more 
mistaken  notions  than  about  this  region. 

In  the  first  place  the  lands  are  not  "bad"  for  the  purposes  for  which 
nature  has  fitted  them,  viz.,  for  stock-raising.  This  is  claimed  by  those 
who  ought  to  know  to  be  one  of  the  best  parts  of  all  the  State  for  profit- 
able cattle-  and  horse-ranching.  The  region  was  called  by  the  early 
French  travelers  who  crossed  the  country  in  wagons  "Bad  Lands  to 
Travel  Through,"  which  is  a  very  fitting  and  appropriate  title.  The 
lands  are  not,  in  fact,  so  "bad,"  but  they  are  bad  to  travel  through.  The 
whole  region  is  so  much  cut  up  by  deep  valleys  with  steep  sides  that  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  travel  there  with  wagons.  And  the  tourist  who 
attempts  to  travel  on  horseback  without  a  guide  is  very  likely  to  "get 
lost." 

Mistaken  Notions  About  the  Cause  of  the  Bad  Lands. — Many 
strange  stories  have  been  invented  by  travelers  to  explain  how 
the  lands  of  this  region  came  to  be  so  very  rough.  They  are  often 
described  as  having  been  made  rough  and  jagged  by  great  volcanic  up- 
heavals or  earthquake  shocks !  There  is  scoria  in  the  hills  or  "buttes," 
and  this  has  given  color  to  the  notion  that  great  volcanic  fires  have 
raged  here,  and  the  high  crags  and  rugged  hillsides  with  deep,  narrow 
valleys  appear  to  those  who  have  keen  imaginations  like  great  rents 
or  fissures  in  the  rocks  caused  by  earthquakes.  Then  there  are  many 
veins  or  beds  of  coal  in  the  region  and  some  of  these  are  burning,  and 
this  has  given  rise  to  the  idea  that  great  fires  have  burned  out  the 
chasms,  or  that  the  coal  has  burned  out  underneath  and  the  rocks  over- 
lying have  then  fallen  in,  causing  the  steep-sided,  ragged  gullies. 

But  careful  observation  and  study  will  show  that  none  of  these 
causes  is  the  true  one.  The  earth  has  not  been  formed  in  the  way  we 
now  see  it  by  sudden  changes.  Great  upheavals  of  the  earth's  crust 


THE   BAD    LANDS.  145 

forming  mountain  ranges  and  volcanic  outbursts  causing  floods  of  lava 
to  pour  out  upon  the  surface  from  the  depths  of  the  earth,  have  occurred 
fft  many  parts  of  the  earth,  and  the  form  and  appearance  of  the  earth 
have  been  greatly  changed  by  such  processes.  But  these  are  not  the 
causes  which  have  made  the  landscape  features  of  the  Bad  Lands,  nor 
of  any  part  of  North  Dakota. 

The  Real  Cause  of  the  "Bad  Lands." — The  agent  which  has  fashioned 
the  landscape  in  the  "Bad  Lands1'  is  the  same  as  that  which  has  been 
working  ever  since  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth  first  appeared  above  the 
seas,  and  dry  land  began  to  receive  rainfall  and  to  be  worn  away  by  it.  The 
"Bad  Lands"  have  been  cut  up  into  "Bad  Lands  to  Travel  Through" 
by  the  action  of  running  water,  just  as  the  plateau  top  of  Pembina 
Mountain  is  being  cut  up  into  hills  by  the  action  of  streams.  The 
buttes  or  flat-topped  hills  of  this  remarkable  region,  the  deep  valleys 
or  gorges  which  surround  the  buttes,  often  so  steep  that  neither  man, 
horse  nor  wild  beast  can  cross  them,  have  been  made  by  the  eroding 
action  of  running  water.  The  same  processes  of  valley  cutting  which 
were  studied  in  Chapter  One  are  the  explanation  of  the  "Bad  Lands." 

The  "Bad  Land"  Region. — A  belt  of  country  from  ten  to  twenty  miles 
wide  in  Xorth  Dakota  along  the  course  of  the  Little  Missouri  River  is 
deeply  intersected  or  cut  into  by  this  river  and  its  tributary  streams. 
The  channel  of  the  Little  Missouri  has  been  cut  by  the  river  deeply 
into  the  landscape  so  that  the  streams  which  flow  into  this  river  have 
steep  bottoms,  that  is,  they  descend  rapidly,  and  this  causes  them  to 
erode  or  cut  down  their  beds  rapidly.  Their  sides,  therefore,  be- 
come steep  and  rugged.  These  tributary  streams  push  back  their 
heads  into  the  land,  as  has  been  explained  before,  and  often  their  heads 
work  back  into  the  plain  so  that  they  meet,  and  so  a  portion  of  the 
prairie  becomes  cut  around  by  the  streams  forming  a  table-land.  If 
this  bit  of  land  thus  surrounded  by  deep  valleys  is  large  it  is  called  a 
plateau  or  a  "mesa."  If  it  is  a  small  area  so  that  it  is  simply  a  flat- 
.  topped  hill  it  is  called  a  "butte." 

Buttes  and  mesas  are  flat  on  top  because  the  original  plain  or 
prairie  was  flat.  The  sides  of  the  valleys  or  coulees  are  steep  and 
rugged  because  the  streams  which  form  them  cut  down  rapidly, 
and  we  have  seen  before  that  swiftly  flowing  streams  erode  their  bot- 
toms much  more  rapidly  than  do  streams  having  slow  currents. 

In  the  spring  when  the  snows  are  melting,  and  during  seasons  of 
heavy  rainfall  these  streams  are  swollen  and  flow  very  swiftly.  The 


146 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


rocks  which  make  up  the  landscape  are  clay  and  sandstone  and  shale, 
and  such  rocks  erode  very  easily  under  the  cutting  action  of  swift  cur- 
rents of  running  water.  During  the  hot  months  of  summer  the  coulees 
become  mostly  dry,  the  clays  become  "baked"  and  cracked  by  the  sun's 
heat,  and  the  sandstones  and  shales  become  crumbled.  Then  when 
the  rains  come  and  the  snows  melt  the  rocks  are  easily  broken  and  car- 
ried away  by  the  waters.  Grass  and  other  vegetation  do  not  have 
time  to  get  much  foothold  on  the  steep  sides  of  the  buttes  because  the 
earth  wears  away  too  rapidly,  and  so  the  sides  of  the  buttes  are  gen- 
erally naked  of  vegetation,  except  in  crevices  where  the  washing  is  less. 
The  layers  of  clay,  sandstone,  shale,  and  often  of  lignite  coal,  are  seen 
in  parallel  series  one  above  the  other  just  as  they  were  laid  down  on  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean. 

Different  Forms  of  Buttes. — The  sides  of  the  buttes  are  worn  away 
year  by  year  as  the  rains  continue  to  wash  their  sides,  and  the  sun  shin- 


FIG.  62.    Pyramid  Butte.    Photograph  by  Prof.  W.  E.Johnson. 


ing  upon  their  unprotected  sides,  and  the  frosts  of  winter,  crack  the  clay 
and  crumble  the  sandstone  and  shales,  and  the  areas  of  the  flat  tops 
become  smaller  and  smaller.  By  and  by  the  flat  top  is 
entirely  worn  away  and  the  butte  "comes  to  a  peak,"  and  then  the  peak 
becomes  lower  and  lower  as  the  wearing  process  goes  on.  Thus  there 
may  be  large  mesas  and  small  mesas,  the  small  mesas  grading  in  size 


THE   BAD    LANDS. 


147 


into  large  buttes,  and  large  buttes  differ  from  small  buttes  only  in  the 
lesser  areas  of  their  tops.  A  large  mesa  may  be  cut  up  into  smaller 
mesas  or  large  buttes,  and  larger  buttes. may  be  cut  into  smaller  buttes, 
by  coulees  pushing  back  and  cutting  up  their  tops.  Finally  the  flat 
tops  become  rounded  tops,  and  then  the  buttes  begin  to  get  lower,  so 
that  there  are  higher  and  lower  buttes,  and  as  the  low,  rounded  buttes 
become  still  lower  and  smaller  they  in  time  wear  away  and  become 
mere  little  naked,  rounded  hillocks  or  "bee-hives." 

If  there  should  be  a  harder  layer  of  sandstone  running  through  the 
butte  the  edges  of  this  harder  layer  will  not  be  worn  away  as  fast  as 
the  rest  of  the  softer  materials,  and  so  this  layer  will  come  to  project 
out  of  the  sides  of  the  butte  as  a  shelf.  If  the  shelf  is  at  or  near  the 
top  of  the  butte  then  the  butte  will  become  a  "table  rock"  or  "capped 
butte."  Sometimes  a  harder  part  of  a  sandstone  layer  or  of  lava  form- 
ing a  crag  or  jutting  mass,  stands  out  on  the  side  or  at  the  top  of  a 
butte,  and  so  a  "pinnacled"  butte  is  formed. 


FIG.  63.    The  Butte  becomes  a  "Table  Rock  "  or  "Capped  Butte." 
Photograph  by  Miss  Nellie  T.  Cruden. 

Outside  the  Bad  Lands. — The  landscape  about  Dickinson,  forty  miles 
•east  of  the  Little  Missouri  River,  is  that  of  a  broken  prairie.  The  val- 
leys are  not  so  deep  because  the  headwaters  of  the  Heart  River  have 
to  go  a  long  way  to  the  Big  Missouri  at  Mandan,  and  this  means  that 
the  "fall"  is  not  so  rapid  so  that  the  streams  cannot  cut  their  channels 
down  so  rapidly.  If  the  headwaters  of  the  Heart  River  did  not  have 


148  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

to  travel  the  long  journey  of  about  100  miles  to  the  Missouri  River, 
that  is,  if  there  were  a  place  as  low  as  the  Missouri  River  at  Manclan, 
only  say  ten  miles  east  of  Dickinson,  the  country  about  Dickinson 
would  rapidly  become  "bad  lands,"  for  the  streams  would  quickly  cut 
down  their  channel  bottoms  and  the  prairie  surface  would  soon  become 
the  tops  of  buttes. 

This  is  what  has  happened  thirty  miles  west  of  Dickinson  at  Fry- 
burg,  where  the  streams  flow  west  into  the  Little  Missouri,  descending 
530  feet  in  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles. 

About  twenty  miles  north  of  Dickinson  are  what  are  called  "the 
breaks."  Here  the  gently  rolling  and  grass-covered  prairie  changes 
suddenly  to  a  much  broken  and  rugged  landscape  with  narrow  valleys 
and  buttes  with  naked  sides.  Here  a  stream  with  a  deep  valley  and 
many  tributary  coulees,  the  Knife  River,  has  pushed  back  into  the 
landscape  from  the  Missouri  River  at  Stanton  in  Mercer  County,  and 
the  development  of  "bad  lands"  has  well  begun.  Farther  north,  after 
crossing  the  region  drained  by  the  Knife,  there  is  rolling  prairie  again. 

At  a  distance  of  about  sixty  miles  north  of  Dickinson  the  prairie 
suddenly  drops  off,  as  abruptly  as  off  the  end  of  a  bridge,  into  the  val- 
ley of  the  lower  Little  Missouri  at  the  bend  where  it  turns  east  to  enter 
the  Big  Missouri.  Here  the  Little  Missouri  has  cut  its  valley  down 
like  a  great  trough  400  to  500  feet  into  the  prairie,  and  the  side  streams 
have  cut  the  landscape  on  each  side  of  the  river  into  the  most  striking 
and  majestic  buttes  anywhere  to  be  seen  in  the  North  Dakota  Bad 
Lands.  The  change  from  the  grass-covered  prairie  to  the  steep  and 
naked  jagged  buttes  of  the  Bad  Lands  of  the  side  of  the  valley-trough 
is  as  marked  as  stepping  off  from  the  edge  of  a  plank  platform.  The 
traveler  often  has  to  go  along  the  edge  of  the  prairie  for  many  miles 
before  finding  a  coulee  he  can  descend  to  the  river,  although  the  dis- 
tance to  the  river  in  a  direct  line  is  less  than  four  miles.  There  are 
only  one  or  two  places  in  a  distance  of  thirty  miles  where  it  is  practi- 
cable to  get  down  to  the  river,  ford  the  stream  with  its  treacherous 
quick-sands,  and  get  up  again  upon  the  prairie  on  the  other  side  of 
the  valley.  Yet  it  is  possible  on  a  clear  day  to  see  across  from  the 
prairie  on  one  side  to  the  grass-covered  prairie  on  the  other,  the  dis- 
tance across,  which  in  this  region  represents  the  whole  width  of  the 
"Bad  Lands,"  being  from  seven  to  ten  miles. 

But  the  journey  down  from  the  prairie  to  the  river  is  a  most  diffi- 
cult one.  Jagged,  rough  and  steep,  down  into  holes  cut  out  by  tor- 


tHE    BAD    LANDS. 


149 


rents  of  water,  around  slippery  clay  buttes,  down  deep  and  steep 
gorges,  over  hard  crags  of  sandstone  which  have  resisted  the  wearing 
action  of  sun,  frost  and  v/ater,  passing  sometimes  a  butte  in  the  sides 
of  which  glisten  countless  crystals,  passing  with  caution  over  a  ledge 
under  which  burns  a  vast  natural  furnace  of  coal,  till  at  length  the  bot- 
tom of  the  valley  is  reached,  where  roll  the  waters  of  the  Little  Mis- 
souri, yellow  with  their  burden  of  sand  and  clay. 

Halting  at  the  hospitable  door  of  a  ranchman's  log  "schack,"  glad 
to  rest  and  hear  again  the  sound  of  a  human  voice,  one  may  well  gaze 


FIG.  64.     "  Halting  at  the  Hospitable  Door  of  a  Ranchman's  Log  'Schack.' " 

back  in  awe  and  wonder  at  the  lofty  gray  precipices  which  have  been 
passed.  "Bad  Lands  to  Travel  Through"  indeed!  But  there  is  never 
a  lack  of  a  cordial  welcome  at  the  humble,  thatched  cottage  of  one  of 
these  ranchmen  "cattle  kings."  True,  there  is  nothing  to  drink  but 
the  warm  water  of  the  river,  and  this  is  so  muddy  from  its  sediment- 
laden  current  even  in  mid-summer  that  it  is  impossible  to  see  the  bot-- 
torn  of  a  spoon- which  is  filled  with  it.  But  anything  is  good  enough, 
and  the  best  the  ranchman  has  he  deems  none  too  good  for  the  welcome 
traveler. 

Here  rolls  the  swift-flowing  and  sediment-laden  Little  Missouri,  at 
once  the  cause  and  the  explanation  of  the  "Bad  Lands."  Its  bed  de- 
scends rapidly  so  that  its  waters  flow  swiftly,  carrying  a  great  burden  of 
sand  and  clay,  in  some  places  little  else  than  a  great  moving  stream  of 
quicksand  creeping  down  the  valley.  Rolling  on  and  on,  bearing  its 
mighty  burden  of  sand  and  clay  down  its  steep  course  to  the  Big  Mis- 
souri, it  adds  to  the  muddiness  of  that  great  dirty  river  this  pudding  of 


150 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 


'rock,  its  waters  stirred  to  a  soup  with  clay,  a  burden  which  it  has 
brought  from  all  the  coulees  which  girdle  the  buttes  of  all  the  "Bad 
Lands"  from  its  long  course  in  South  and  North  Dakota. 

The  Structure  of  the  Buttes. — One  of  the  most  striking  things  which 
the  traveler  observes  in  the  Bad  Lands  is  the  arrangement  of  the  rocks 
in  the  naked  buttes  in  horizontal  layers.  So  far  from  the  region  being 
one  which  has  been  rent  and  broken  and  upheaved  by  volcanic  or  earth- 
quake action,  so  far  from  the  rugged  form  of  the  hills  being  due  to 
heat  from  eruptions  of  the  earth,  as  has  sometimes  been  said  in 
descriptions  of  this  region,  the  rocks  are  all  horizontal  in  position  and 


^  PIG.  65.     "One  Layer  above  another  like  Boards  in  a  Lumber  Pile."     Pyramid  Park. 

Photograph  by  Prof.  IV.  E.  Jchnson. 

one  layer  or  stratum  above  another  in  as  systematic  order  as  boards  in 
a  lumber  pile. 

Rocks  which  have  been  upheaved  and  crumpled  and  melted  in  the 
processes  of  mountain  making  are  upturned,  broken,  and  bent,  and  the 
character  of  the  rocks  themselves  changed,  so  that  what  had  been  soft 
clay  or  shale  has  been  changed  into  slate,  and  sandstone  into  quartzite 
in  which  the  grains  of  sand  cannot  now  be  distinguished.  But  no  such 
changes  hav,e  occurred  in  the  Bad  Lands.  The  rock-layers  are  in 
horizontal  position  just  as  they  were  laid  down  as  sediments  on  the 


THE   BAD   LANDS.  151 

bottom  of  the  sea  long  ages  ago.  The  layers  of  clay  are  still  clay,  and 
the  sandstone  strata  are  sandstone  now,  made  up  of  the  same  grains 
of  sand  as  they  were  when  the  waves  of  the  sea  washed  them. 

All  these  layers  of  rock  belong  in  what  is  called  the  Laramie  forma- 
tion, the  highest  in  the  series,  or  latest  formed,  of  the  Cretaceous  rocks. 

That  these  layers  of  rock,  these  sandstones,  shales,  and  clays,  were 
formed  on  the  bottom  of  a  great  body  of  water  there  can  hardly  be 
doubt,  for  nothing  but  water  can  form  clay  or  fine  sand  into  such 
layers. 

Follow  along  any  particular  layer  in  the  side  of  a  butte  and  then 
look  across  to  the  other  side  of  the  valley  and  the  same  layer  occurs 
there  at  the  same  height.  Follow  it  on  and  it  has  the  same  position  in 
all  the  buttes.  There  are  the  same  layers  above  it  in  all  its  course, 
and  those  layers  which  are  below  it  can  be  seen  below  it  in  all  the  buttes. 
The  edge  of  a  particular  layer  as  it  is  seen  in  the  side  of  the  hill  is  like 
a  great  ribbon  stretched  along  the  side  of  the  valley.  It  keeps  just 
the  same  thickness  from  one  butte  side  to  another  as  far  as  it  is  fol- 
lowed, till  it  finally  plunges  into  the  ground  below  the  level  of  the 
stream  bottom,  if  it  is  followed  up-stream,  or  rises  a  little  toward  the 
surface  or  top  of  the  side  of  the  valley  if  it  is  followed  down-stream. 
This  is  what  would  be  expected  if  the  layer  itself  is  horizontal,  for  the 
stream  bed  at  the  bottom  is  not  horizontal  but  rises  up-stream,  and  so 
the  layer  seems  to  corne  down  to  meet  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  though 
really  the  stream  bottom  rises  to  meet  the  layer.  The  flat  land  at  the 
top  of  the  buttes  has  a  slope  down-stream  or  else  the  stream  would 
not  have  been  started,  and  so  the  layer  tends  to  rise  more  and  more 
toward  the  top  when  followed  down-stream. 

The  only  explanation  of  layers  of  rock  so  extensively  horizontal  is 
that  they  have  been  deposited  in  water  upon  the  bottom  of  an  ocean. 

Veins,  or  beds,  of  lignite  coal  occur  along  with  the  layers  of  clay, 
sandstone  and  shale.  They  are  of  various  thicknesses  from  less  than 
an  inch  to  eight  feet  or  more,  and  these  can  be  followed  along  the 
naked  sides  of  the  hills  or. buttes  like  the  other  rock  layers.  Now  if 
lignite  coal,  while  under  the  great  pressure  of  the  weight  of  the  rocks 
above  it  were  to  be  greatly  heated,  as  it  would  be  if  volcanic  action  or 
earthquakes  had  caused  great  upheavals  and  rents  in  the  earth,  it  would 
be  changed  to  anthracite  coal  and  cease  to  be  lignite.  The  fact  that 
there  are  beds  of  lignite  coal  all  through  the  Bad  Lands,  therefore,  is  a 


152 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


proof  that  heat  from  earth  eruptions  was  not  the  cause  of  the  Bad 
Lands. 

In  many  places  in  this  region  clay  has  been  heated  by  the  burning 
coal  mines  so  that  it  has  been  baked  into  brick,  and  sometimes  also  it 
has  been  melted  so  that  it  looks  much  like  lava. .  Where  the  sides  of 
the  buttes  have  crags  of  this  melted  rock  projecting  in  great  masses  the 
region  has  sometimes  the  appearance  of  having  been  rent  by  volcanic 
eruptions. 

Natural  brick,  which  has  been  baked  by  the  heat  of  burning  coal  mines 
that  have  smouldered  in  the  bosom  of  the  hills  during  centuries,  and 


Fi-5.  66.     "Masses  of  Scoria  lie  upon  the  Surface,  forming  Crags  and  Pinnacles ." 
Photograph  by  Miss  Nellie  T.  Cruden. 

scoria,  which  is  melted  clay,  are  extensively  used  on  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railway  as  ballast  for  the  road-bed,  and  also  at  many  of  the  ranches  for 
making  walks  and  the  floors  of  stables. 

Six  miles  east  of  Medora  at  Scoria  the  buttes  look  as  though  they  had 
been  deluged  with  blood,  and  immense  masses  of  the  hard  scoria  lie 
upon  the  surface  crowning  the  buttes,  and  forming  huge  ragged  crags 
and  pinnacles.  Many  outcroppings  of  scoria  and  burned-clay  brick 
occur  also  south  of  Medora  in  the  buttes  along  Custer  Creek  and  other 
small  streams  entering  the  Little  Missouri  River,  shown  by  the  red 


THE   BAD    LANDS. 


153 


color  which  extends  down  over  the  lower  rock  layers,  having  washed 
from  the  red  layers  above. 

Some  Places  of  Interest. — The  Northern  Pacific  Railway  crosses  the 
Little  Missouri  River  at  Medora.  This  is  often  spoken  of  as  "the  heart 
of  the  Bad  Lands,"  though  it  is  not  in  fact  so  "bad"  here  as  at  the  point 
described  farther  down  the  river,  for,  as  the  valley  is  deeper  farther 
toward  its  mouth,  the  buttes  are  higher  and  the  chasms  deeper.  Me- 
dora is  an  interesting  spot,  and  the  traveler  who  wishes  to  see  and  study 
the  Bad  Lands  will  find  no  more  favorable  place  so  easily  accessible. 

It  was  at  Medora  that  the  French  nobleman,  the  Marquis  de 
Mores  established  his  once  famous  stockyards  and  slaughtering  houses, 
intending  to  make  this  a  shipping  point  for  dressed  beef  from  this  great 
cattle-raising  district.  The  name  Medora  was  given  to  the  town  in 
honor  of  his  wife,  who  was  an  American  lady.  The  baronial  residence, 
the  Mores  Castle,  still  stands  on  a  beautiful  bluff  overlooking  the  river 
and  the  town.  The  buildings  which  were  intended  to  be  used  for  the 
slaughtering  and  packing  industry  are  still  standing. 

About  two  miles  south  of  Medora  is  the  old  trail  by  which  the  ill- 
fated  General  Ouster  led  his  armv  across  the  Bad  Lands  in  the  famous 


FIG.  67.    "Custer  Trail  Ranche  "  is  a  good  place  from  which  to  see  the  "  Bad  Lands.' 
Photograph  byJ.J.  Freeman. 


154  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

campaign  against  Sitting  Bull  in  1876.  The  buttes  on  which  the 
picket  guards  were  stationed  while  the  army  was  encamped  here  are 
pointed  out,  and  the  marks  of  the  trail  made  by  the  wagon  wheels,  and 
also  the  marks  of  the  tent-pins  at  the  camping  place,  are  still  visible. 

Custer  Trail  Ranche,  two  miles  south  of  Medora,  named  from  its 
location  on  the  line  of  the  old  Custer  trail,  is  an  unique  place,  and  worth 
the  tourists'  time  to  visit,  both  because  it  is  a  typically  ideal  ranche,  and 
because  it  is  a  good  place  from  which  to  see  the  "Bad  Lands."  The 
ranche  buildings,  mostly  made  of  logs,  constitute  a  picturesque  villa 
standing  upon  the  plain  where  Custer  Creek  enters  the  Little  Mis- 
souri, and  surrounded  by  an  amphitheater  of  buttes.  The  proprietors, 
the  Eaton  Brothers,  are  three  gentlemen,  and  tourists  will  find  here 
everything  needed  for  their  convenience  for  study  or  recreation.  A 
carload  of  saddles  and  riding  equipage,  and  all  the  things  which  go  to 
made  up  the  accessories  of  an  ideal  ranche  headquarters,  comfortable 
quarters,  good  food,  congenial  company,  in  fact,  everything  except  the 
unpurchasable  ability  to  ride  a  "broncho,"  are  at  the  service  of  guests. 
A  herd  of  riding  horses  of  all  degrees  of  docility,  from  the  wild  and 
unbridled  broncho  to  the  placid  "old  stager,"  which  is  suited  to  the 
novice,  who  may  wish  to  see  the  '  Bad  Lands,  are  "rounded  up"  early 
each  morning  from  a  pasture  which  is  enclosed  by  twenty-eight  miles 
of  wire  fence,  into  a  corral  built  of  logs  so  high  and  strong  that  the 
wildest  deer,  buffalo,  or  untamed  broncho  could  neither  scale  it  nor 
break  through  it. 

A  few  miles  farther  up  the  river  stands  the  log  "schack"  which  was 
once  the  headquarters  and  home  of  President  Roosevelt. 

It  has  been  stated  before  that  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  crosses 
the  Little  Missouri  River  at  Medora.  The  railroad  descends  from  the 
divide,  or  watershed,  between  the  Heart  and  the  Little  Missouri  Rivers 
at  Fryburg,  creeping  down  the  steep  bottom  and  between  the  jagged 
sides  of  Sully's  Creek.  The  brakes  upon  the  wheels  of  the  great  roll- 
ing city  of  parlor  cars  creak  and  grind  as  the  train  follows  the  curves 
of  the  track  down  the  steep  grade  of  more  than  fifty  feet  to  the  mile. 

At  length  the  porter  calls  out  the  poetic  name  of  Medora.  Step- 
ping upon  the  platform  of  the  little  station  the  great  nearly  perpendicu- 
lar wall  of  a  large  butte  meets  the  gaze,  its  ribbon-marked  side  standing 
like  a  great  curtain  300  feet  high  behind  the  town.  The  top  of  the 
butte  appears  to  be  perfectly  flat,  as  though  the  upper  part  of  a  great 
mountain  had  been  sawed  off  and  taken  away  and  this  great  massive 


THE    BAD    LANDS.  155 

base  left.  The  ribbon-like  marks  across  the  steep  side  are  the  hori- 
zontal layers  of  the  outcropping  clay,  sandstone,  shales,  and  coal,  of 
which  the  butte  is  composed. 

After  crossing  the  river  the  railroad  suddenly  bends  northward  or 
down  the  river,  hugging  closely  against  the  bank  at  the  foot  of  the 
overhanging  buttes  till  the  mouth  of  a  coulee  is  reached,  when  it  winds 
its  laborious  way  up  the  steep  path  of  the  coulee  to  the  prairie  beyond 
the  Bad  Lands,  that  is,  to  the  level  of  the  tops  of  the  buttes  at  Medora. 

A  View  from  the  Top — If  the  tourist  secures  a  saddle-horse, — and 
there  is  nothing  else,  for  there  is  little  use  in  this  country  for  wheeled 
vehicles, — he  may  go  by  a  winding  course  around  to  the  top  of  a  butte. 
There  he  finds  a  level  grass-covered  prairie,  as  fine  a  field  for  a  base- 
ball ground  as  college  student  could  desire.  Away  down  there  in 
the  valley — not  away  off  there  but  away  down  there — is  the  muddy 
Little  Missouri,  houses,  the  railroad,  the  bridge!  He  is  now  on  the 
top  of  the  same  butte  which  was  first  seen  from  the  depot  platform. 
Now  he  is  looking  down  the  face  of  the  same  wall  from  the  upper  edge, 
and  not  looking  against  it  from  near  its  base. 

Look  off  toward  the  horizon  and  the  scene  is  that  of  a  great  prairie 
cut  up  by  little  grooves  or  scratches,  for  the  eye  cannot  see  down  into 
the  valleys,  and  only  the  edges  of  the  flat  tops  of  the  buttes  tell  where 
the  valleys  are.  The  other  buttes  are  like  this  one,  they  are  all  little 
segments  or  blocks  of  prairie  separated  by  deep  and  jagged  valleys. 
Looking  away  across  the  distant  landscape  there  spreads  out  over  the 
tops  of  the  buttes  the  vast  prairie,  the  great  Plateau  which  embraces 
all  of  western  North  Dakota  and  extends  west  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. But  look  at  the  nearer  landscape  and  it  is  deeply  cut  up  by 
valleys.  Go  down  into  a  valley  and  the  traveler  is  lost  to  the  world. 
He  sees  only  the  edges  of  the  little  prairies  which  are  on  the  tops  of  the 
buttes.  It  is  not  the  butte  tops  which  are  high,  it  is  the  valley  bot- 
toms which  are  low.  They  have  been  sunken  down  into  the  earth. 
They  are  furrows  or  troughs  cut  deeply  into  the  bosom  of  the  prairie. 

Let  us  look  off  once  more  to  the  far  distant  horizon.  Away  to  the 
south  rises  a  huge  dark  mass  higher  than  the  general  level.  To  the 
southwest  is  another  dark  mass,  and  against  the  western  sky  two  other 
great  blocks  can  be  seen  above  the  general  horizon.  These  are  higher 
buttes,  buttes  standing  on  the  shoulders  of  buttes,  as  it  were.  They  are 
so  far  away  that  they  do  not  appear  so  very  high  upon  the  horizon,  but 
when  we  approach  nearer  to  them  they  are  seen  to  stand  400  to  600 


156  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

feet  above  the  surrounding  landscape,  that  is,  higher  than  the  tops  jf 
the  buttes  on  the  shoulders  of  which  they  stand. 

On  the  Map  of  the  State  (Figure  i)  it  will  be  noticed  that  there 
are  buttes  or  hills  scattered  over  the  southwestern  portion  of  the  State. 
These  are  higher  buttes  standing  considerably  above  all  the  surround- 
ing landscape.  The  Killdeer  Mountains,  forty  miles  north  of  Dickin- 
son, are  high  buttes  of  this  class.  They  are  more  than  700  feet  above 
the  surrounding  prairie,  their  sides  steep  and  ruffled  with  crags,  their 
top  a  broad  level  meadow. 

These  higher  buttes,  the  Killdeer  Mountains,  Camel's  Hump,  Sen- 
tinel Butte,  Square  Butte,  Round  Butte,  and  the  many  in  the  south- 
western corner  of  the  State  which  are  higher  than  the  surrounding 
landscape,  tell  an  important  story  of  the  history  of  this  region.  West- 
ward in  Montana  are  many  such  high  buttes.  The  story  in  brief  is 
that  the  whole  vast  region  extending  west  to  the  Rocky  Mountains 
was  once  lower  than  it  is  now,  that  is,  its  elevation  above  sea-level  was 
not  as  great.  The  land  had  been  worn  away  by  erosion  till  there  were 
left  only  scattered  patches  of  upland.  The  region  had  all  been  reduced 
to  base-level  except  these  few  remaining  parts. 

"Base-level"  means  that  the  general  level  of  the  landscape  has  been 
lowered  by  the  streams  till  it  is  so  little  above  sea-level  that  erosion 
has  practically  ceased.  The  high  hills,  these  highest  buttes,  are,  there- 
fore, vestiges  of  a  former  landscape,  higher  places  which  were  not  worn 
away,  just  as  the  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau  was  left  during  the  long  ages 
preceding  the  Glacial  Period  as  a  fragment  of  an  older  landscape  which 
was'nearly  all  carried  away.  The  general  level  of  the  tops  of  the  buttes 
in  the  Bad  Lands  is  the  old  base-leveled  plain,  such  a  plain  as  was  the 
great  region  of  the  Mouse  Valley,  and  the  central  part  of  the  State 
which  is  now  crossed  by  the  James  and  Sheyenne  Rivers,  before  the  ice- 
sheet  swept  over  the  landscape. 

Now,  this  whole  region  was  uplifted.  This  is  what  is  called  an 
epeirogenic  movement  of  the  crust  of  the  earth.  When  the  uplifting  of 
this  region  occurred  erosion  began  actively  again,  and  then  began  to  be 
formed  the  coulees  by  which  the  Bad  Lands  are  dissected  into  buttes. 
All  the  "Bad  Lands"  along  the  Little  Missouri  River,  therefore  are  the 
result  of  erosion  since  the  region  was  uplifted.  It  is  this  uplift  which 
gives  the  steep  gradient  to  the  Little  Missouri  and  so  makes  the  deep 
cutting  of  its  channel  and  those  of  its  tributaries  possible. 

Thus  the  Bad  Lands  are  a  new  feature.     They  represent  the  "sec- 


THE   BAD   LANDS.  157 

ond  childhood,"  or  a  beginning  of  the  development  of  a  new  land- 
scape from  one  which  had  become  old.  They  have  not  always  been 
"Bad  Lands  to  Travel  Through!"  The  region  was  once  a  great  broad 
prairie  lowland.  The  level  meadows  which  are  now  left  in  patches  on 
the  tops  of  the  buttes  are  fragments  of  the  old  base-leveled  plain  of  a 
former  time. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  "Bad  Lands"  are  not  really  so  bad  after 
all.  They  are,  indeed,  "bad  'to  travel  through,"  but  it  would,  be  diffi- 
cult to  convince  the  ranchmen  who  have  become  wealthy  grazing  herds 
of  cattle  and  horses  here  that  they  are  "bad."  They  claim  that  these 
lands  are  better  for  grazing,  area  for  area,  than  the  smooth  and  un- 
broken prairie.  The  coulee  bottoms  yield  excellent  pasturage,  for 
here  the  grass  grows  abundantly,  and  the  deep  valleys  furnish  protec- 
tion for  the  animals  in  winter,  and  the  snows  which  gather  in  the  win- 
ter protect  the  grass  so  that  more  grows  than  there  are  cattle  enough 
to  eat.  The  burning  coal  mines  also  have  their  advantage,  for  these 
act  as  great  furnaces  warming  the  air  near  by  them,  and  the  cattle 
congregate  about  them  in  the  cold  weather  to  enjoy  the  warmth. 

The  Petrified  Forests — Another  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  past  is 
revealed  in  the  "Petrified  Forests,"  the  remains  of  which  are  scattered 
over  the  landscape,  or  still  stand  as  stumps  in  the  places  where  they 
grew.  Huge  logs,  looking  so  much  like  natural  wood  as  to  be  easily 
mistaken  for  it,  occur  in  great  numbers.  Many  stumps  still  stand  with 
their  "roots"  buried  in  the  earth  just  where  they  grew. 

We  have  seen  before  that  beds  of  lignite  coal  occur  in  the  rocks  of 
the  region.  These  were  formed  from  the  forests  which  grew  during 
the  times  when  these  rocks  were  being  formed.  The  "petrified  for- 
ests" are  trees  which  grew  upon  the  landscape  but  which  were  not 
buried  under  such  conditions  as  to  form  coal.  They  have  become 
"petrified,"  or  "stone  trees." 

When  a  tree  dies  in  the  forest,  but  remains  standing,  it  does  not 
become  dry  or  "seasoned,"  but  takes  up  water  from  the  ground  and 
becomes  "sap-soaked."  Such  trees  dry  out  by  the  action  of  the  sun 
and  wind,  as  do  all  trees,  but  they  continually  take  up  more  water  from 
the  earth  and  so  do  not  become  dry  or  seasoned.  The  water  which 
was  taken  up  by  the  trees  which  become  "petrified  trees"  contained 
mineral  matter  in  solution.  This  mineral  matter  cannot  evaporate 
from  the  tree  with  the  water  and  so  it  is  left  behind  in  the  pores  or 
cavities  of  the  wood.  As  this  process  went  on  for  a  long  time  the  tree 


158  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

trunk,  and  sometimes  the  larger  limbs  also,  became  slowly  filled  with 
the  mineral  matter.  Logs  which  lay  upon  the  ground  or  became  bu- 
ried in  the  soil  absorbed  water  which  contained  mineral  matter,  and 
these  became  "petrified"  also. 

The  wood  did  not  change  into  stone;  this  is  not  what  is  meant 
when  it  is  said  that  the  trees  became  "stone  trees"  or  the  log  became 
a  "petrified  log."  The  wood  decayed  and  particles  of  mineral  matter 
were  left  in  place  of  the  wood,  and  so  the  tree  trunk  or  log  came  to  be 
replaced  by  stone  having  exactly  the  form,  and  the  structure  of  the 
original  tree  trunk  or  log.  It  thus  happens  that  a  log  or  piece  of  "pet- 
rified wood"  can  sometimes  hardly  be  told  from  actual  wood  till  it  is 
examined  closely.  It  is  no  joke  that  travelers  on  the  western  plains 
where  no  trees  now  grow,  have  been  deceived  by  the  petrified  logs  into 
thinking  that  they  had  found  fuel ;  for  such  logs,  falling  to  pieces  under 
the  action  of  frost  and  sun,  so  closely  resemble  slivers  and  pieces  of  a 
log  of  wood  that  only  handling  shows  them  to  be  stone. 

When  a  block  of  petrified  wood  has  been  polished,  or  when  a  thin 
slice  is  examined  with  a  microscope,  the  grain  of  the  wood  or  the  cell- 
structure  can  be  seen  just  as  it  was  in  the  original  tree.  In  this  way 
it  is  possible  to  tell  what  kinds  of  trees  grew  on  the  landscape  long  ages 
ago.  And  in  the  same  way  the  kinds  of  trees  which  make  up  the  coal 
in  the  coal  beds  can  be  found  out. 


CHAPTER  THE  SEVENTEENTH. 
THE  COAL  BEDS  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA. 

The  Early  Landscape — One  of  the  great  sources  of  wealth  with  which 
North  Dakota  has  been  endowed  by  Nature  lies  beneath  the  surface,  and 
so  is  not  exactly  a  landscape  feature,  yet  it  is  so  directly  related  to  the 
landscape,  and  to  the  resources  which  belong  to  the  surface,  that  it  can 
hardly  be  omitted  from  a  study  of  the  landscape  geology  of  the  State. 
Its  bearing  upon  the  development  of  the  wealth  of  the  soil  is  so  direct  that 
it  becomes  a  part  of  our  subject.  This  is  the  great  wealth  of  coal  which 
lies  buried  beneath  the  surface  of  the  western  half  of  the  State. 

To  understand  the  formation  of  the  great  deposits  of  coal  we  need 
to  go  back  to  an  earlier  chapter  in  the  story  of  the  rock  formations  of 
our  State,  to  a  time  long  before  the  present  landscape  was  formed,  and 
before  the  landscape  which  has  been  called  "Old  North  Dakota,"  or 
the  pre-glacial  landscape,  was  formed,  back  to  a  period  whose  history 
is  only  known  to  us  through  the  rocks  which  were  then  deposited.  In 
fact  the  "date"  of  the  history  we  now  study  goes  away  back  to  the  great 
Middle  Time  of  the  progress  of  the  North  American  Continent,  and 
of  the  World,  to  a  time  when  a  great  Inland  Sea  or  arm  of  the  ocean 
covered  nearly  half  of  the  continent,  and  the  rocks  which  are  now  the 
shales  and  sandstones  underlying  the  drift  formations  were  being  de- 
posited. This  is  the  period  in  the  earth's  history  known  as  the  Creta- 
ceous Era,  the  closing  part  of  the  great  Mesozoic,  or  Middle  Life, 
Period  of  the  earth's  history,  known  also  as  the  Age  of  Reptiles. 

The  beginning  of  the  landscape  of  North  Dakota,  as  of  all  land- 
scapes, was  beneath  the  sea.  The  continents  were  first  sea-bottoms 
and  afterward  became  the  dry  land.  The  rock  layers  which  are  passed 
through  in  drilling  an  artesian  well  are  the  old  mud-floors  of  the  ancient 
oceans,  and  the  different  kinds  of  rock  in  these  layers  and  the  plant  and 
animal  remains  they  contain  tell  the  history  of  the  time  in  which  they 
were  formed.  The  Map,  Figure  75,  shows  the  portion  of  North 

159 


160 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


THE  COAL  BEDS  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA. 


161 


America  in  which  North  Dakota  is  embraced,  and  the  shaded  parts  show 
the  regions  covered  by  the  sea  during  the  Cretaceous  Era. 

The  sea  was  shallow  and  the  crust  of  the  earth  underneath,  as  also 
the  land  areas  of  the  continent,  rose  and  sank.  When  an  uplifting  of 
the  region  of  the  sea  occurred  the  waters  withdrew  and  the  mud  at  the 
bottom  became  the  soil  in  which  great  forests  grew.  When  the  region 
sank  again  these  forests  were  submerged  and  were  in  turn  buried  in  the 
sediments  deposited  over  them.  It  is  to  this  rising  and  sinking  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  the  elevation  and  subsidence  of  large  areas,  that  we 
owe  the  fact  of  our  great  coal  beds.  When  a  region  was  elevated  a 
little  above  the  level  of  the  sea  this  then  became  a  great  marsh,  or  moist 
lowland,  and  trees  grew  rapidly,  forming  dense  forests.  Then  when 
the  region  became  low  enough  so  that  the  sea  covered  it  again  muds 
were  deposited  on  top  of  the  fallen  trees  and  vegetable  matter.  In 
the  clay-beds  under  the  coal  are  sometimes  found  the  stumps  of  trees 
standing  apparently  where  they  grew,  and  the  trunks  from  such  stumps 
have  been  found  above  in  the  coal  seam  as  coal,  though  still  in  the  form 
of  the  original  tree  trunk. 

The  fossil  stumps  of  trees  have  been  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  coal 
formations  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  clay  under  the  coal,  their  trunks 
running  into  the  coal  bed  where  this  part  has  been  formed  into  coal, 
and  the  top  extending  up  into  the  rocks  over  the  coal  as  fossil  or  "pet- 


FlG.  69.    Old  Sims  Mining  Company's  Aline.    A— Clay  and  gravel.    B— Thin  layer  of  coal.    C— Clay 

and  gravel.    D— Coal,  one-half  foot  thick.    Probably  30  feet  above  the  thick  layer  I.    E— Clay. 

F— Coal,  about  one  foot  thick.     Probably  10  feet  above  the  thick  layer  I.      G—  Sand  and 

clay.    H — Compact  clay.    I— Thick  layer  of  coal — the  one  worked. 

State  Geological  Survey  of  North  Dakota. 

rifled"  wood.  In  the  clays  or  rocks  which  are  under  and  over  the  coal 
beds  logs  and  leaves  of  fern  plants  such  as  grew  during  that  time  are 
sometimes  found  in  such  abundance  as  to  make  up  a  large  part  of  the 
mass  of  the  rock. 

The  coal  beds  of  North  Dakota  have  a  layer  of  clay  below,  and  very 


162  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

commonly  one  above  also.  These  clays  are  often  called  fire-clays,  be- 
cause some  of  them  are  valuable  for  pottery  and  earthenware,  and  the 
manufacture  of  fire-brick. 

How  the  Coal  Beds  Were  Formed. — When  the  sea  covered  any  part 
of  the  earth  this  region  received  deposits  of  mud  and  other  sediments. 
If  the  lands  next  to  the  sea  were  not  very  high  the  streams  flowing 
from  them  would  not  carry  very  coarse  materials  to  the  sea.  Clay  and 
shale  are  composed  of  very  fine  sediments.  The  waves  of  the  sea 
caused  by  the  winds  and  the  tides  would  wear  the  bottom  and  shores, 
and  the  materials  so  worn  would  become  spread  over  the  sea-bottom 
as  sandstones.  The  finer  materials  brought  in  by  the  rivers  and  the 
finest  parts,  worn  by  the  waves,  would  be  carried  farther  out  and  depos- 
ited as  clay  or  shale. 

Now  the  changes  from  below  sea-level  to  above  sea-level,  or  the 
changes  by  which  the  land  became  covered  by  the  sea,  or  the  sea-bot- 
tom was  lifted  up  so  as  to  become  dry  land,  went  on  very  slowly.  A 
change  of  a  few  inches  may  have  occupied  hundreds  of  years.  When 
the  region  became  just  a  little  above  the  level  of  the  sea  and  was  cov- 
ered with  a  forest  of  trees  together  with  a  great  variety  of  smaller 
plants,  we  should  think  of  these  growing  and  shedding  their  leaves 
season  after  season,  some  of  them  falling  over  by  storms  and  their 
trunks  becoming  covered  with  leaves  and  debris,  and  this  as  going 
on  for  a  very  great  length  of  time,  as  we  measure  time  in  years.  But 
if  during  all  this  time  the  land  was  sinking  slowly,  so  slowly  that  the 
tree  trunks  and  leaves  added  to  the  land  just  about  as  fast  as  it  sank, 
and  the  soaking  of  these  with  water  prevented  them  from  decaying, 
then  after  a  great  lapse  of  time  there  would  be  a  layer  of  vegetable 
matter  of  considerable  thickness  all  over  this  region,  a  layer  of  tree 
trunks,  stems,  and  leaves.  If  in  time  the  sea  crept  in  and  covered  this 
region  again,  that  is,  if  the  sinking  down,  or  subsidence,  became  great 
enough  so  that  the  sea  came  in  and  covered  it,  and  streams  from  the  ad- 
joining lands  brought  their  waters  and  sediments  into  it,  then  all  this 
accumulation  of  vegetable  material  would  be  covered  with  mud  or 
sediments.  It  might  be  covered  with  such  sediments  as  form  clay  or 
shale,  and  the  waves  and  currents  might  wash  in  more  sandy  materials 
forming  a  sandstone  deposit.  Coal  beds  are  found  to  be  made  up  of 
vegetable  matter  such  as  we  have  imagined  in  the  case  just  described. 
Logs  and  stumps  and  leaves  are  found  in  the  coal  beds,  changed  from 
wood  into  coal;  and  pieces  of  coal  which  show  no  likeness  to  wood  to 


THE  COAL  BEDS  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA.  163 

the  naked  eye,  when  viewed  with  a  microscope  in  very  thin  sections, 
show  the  structure  of  wood. 

How  the  Wood  Was  Changed  into  Coal — We  shall  now  try  to  see  how, 
in  the  long  lapse  of  ages  since  it  was  covered  by  the  mud  and  water, 
the  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter  became  changed  into  a  coal  bed. 

Wood  is  composed  principally  of  three  substances,  known  as  ele- 
ments, and  it  may  help  us  to  better  understand  coal  if  we  remember 
their  names.  They  are  Carbon,  Hydrogen,  and  Oxygen.  When  wood 
is  burned,  or  when  it  rots  in  the  forest,  the  elements  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed are  separated,  or,  as  the  chemist  would  say,  it  is  decomposed. 
When  it  is  burned  in  our  stoves  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are  sepa- 
rated from  the  carbon,  and  the  former  go  up  the  chimney  as  water  in 
the  form  of  steam.  This  is  a  part  of  the  "smoke."  Oxygen  from  the 
air  combines  with  the  carbon  and  forms  what  is  known  as  carbonic  acid 
gas.  This  gas  goes  up  the  chimney  also  as  smoke. 

When  a  tree  decays  in  the  forest  it  "burns  up"  in  the  same  way  as 
in  the  stove  except  that  the  process  is  very  slow.  But  the  same 
amount  of  heat  is  given  off,  and  the  water  and  carbonic  acid  gas  are 
formed  by  this  slow  burning,  just  as  in  the  stove,  the  gases  escaping 
into  the  air.  But  when  wood  is  buried  under  a  great  weight  of  mud 
and  water  it  is  kept  from  decaying  or  burning  up  the  way  it  would  if  it 
were  lying  on  the  top  of  the  ground.  It  is  in  this  condition  of  being 
entombed  deep  under  the  water  and  mud,  shut  away  from  the  air, 
under  the  pressure  of  the  overlying  mud  (which  in  time  has  become 
hardened  into  solid  rock),  and  heated  by  the  heat  from  the  depths  of  the 
earth,  that  the  wood  becomes  transformed  into  coal. 

By  a  slow  process  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are  driven  off  from  the 
wood  leaving  most  of  the  carbon.  This  carbon  is  the  coal  which  we 
obtain  from  the  mines.  Not  that  all  of  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are 
driven  off  and  all  the  carbon  is  left,  for  this  is  not  exactly  the  case. 
Some  of  the  carbon  is  driven  off  in  combination  with  some  of  the  hyd- 
rogen, in  the  form  of  oils  or  gases,  but  the  carbon  which  remains  is  the 
black  coal.  Petroleum  or  "coal-oil,"  from  which  kerosene  and  gaso- 
line are  obtained,  is  carbon  and  hydrogen  which  have  been  driven  off 
under  similar  conditions  from  animal  remains  entombed  in  the  rocks. 

The  Different  Kinds  of  Coal — Different  kinds  of  coal  are  formed  ac- 
cording to  the  conditions  under  which  the  wood  is  changed.  In  the 
purest  and  hardest  anthracite  coal  all  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen  have 
been  driven  off  and  there  is  left  the  pure  carbon,  except  such  "impuri- 


164  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

ties"  as  were  in  the  wood  in  the  form  of  mineral  substances,  for  there 
is  some  mineral  in  wood  which  forms  the  "ashes"  when  wood  is  burned 
in  the  stove.  Bituminous  coal,  or  "soft  coal,"  such  as  is  used  in  steam 
engines  and  in  blacksmith  shops,  contains  a  good  deal  of  hydrogen  in 
combination  with  carbon  in  the  form  of  oils.  This  is  what  makes  it 
so  "dirty"  to  handle  and  causes  the  black  sooty  smoke  in  burning. 
Lignite  coal  (from  Lignum,  meaning  wood)  is  a  good  deal  more  like 
the  original  wood.  It  has  been  changed  much  less  than  has  bituminous 
coal,  and  peat  has  been  changed  still  less: 

There  are  all  stages  or  degrees  in  the  process  of  change  in  the  coals 
found  in  the  different  parts  of  the  world.  Peat  is  dead  vegetable  mat- 
ter which  has  become  water-soaked  and  buried  away  from  the  air  at  the 
bottom  of  a  slough  or  "bog."  Lignite  may  be  so  little  changed  that 
fibers  of  the  wood  can  still  be  seen,  and  knots  and  branches  remain  in 
the  form  in  which  they  grew.  There  is  also  lignite  which  is  more  like 
bituminous  coal,  more  oily,  and  not  showing  very  clear  traces  of  the 
woody  fiber.  Bituminous,  or  soft  coals,  have  many  degrees  of  "soft- 
ness," that  is,  some  contain  more  and  some  less  of  the  volatile  oils  of 
carbon  and  hydrogen.  (Volatile  means  flying  away,  because  these  oils 
quickly  pass  off  in  the  form  of  gas  when  heated.)  Those  which  con- 
tain less  oil  are  more  like  anthracite,  and  so  also  there  are  grades  of 
anthracite  ranging  all  the  way  from  the  harder  bituminous  grades, 
\vhich  contain  a  little  oil,  to  the  hardest  "diamond  anthracite,"  which 
is  nearly  pure  carbon. 

The  essential  difference,  therefore,  between  the  various  grades  of 
lignite,  bituminous,  and  anthracite  coal  lies  in  the  extent  to  which  the 
processes  of  change  by  which  the  volatile  oils  have  been  driven  off  have 
gone.  Peat  might  be  transformed  into  lignite,  lignite  into  bituminous, 
and  bituminous  into  anthracite,  if  the  proper  conditions  of  heat  and 
pressure,  away  from  air,  could  be  supplied.  The  anthracite  coal  de- 
posits are  in  the  regions  where  mountain  upheavals  have  occurred. 
The  heat,  which  attends  the  upheaval  of  mountains,  produces  the 
change  in  the  coal  which  is  deeply  buried  beneath  a  great  \veight  of-  over- 
lying rocks.  There  is  no  anthracite  coal  in  North  Dakota  because  no 
mountain-making  upheavals  have  occurred  within  the  region  of  this 
State. 

Thus  we  see  that  there  is  a  long  series  of  varieties,  or  kinds,  of  coal, 
all  formed  from  vegetable  matter  which  has  been  changed  from  its 
original  condition  as  wood  by  a  slow  transformine  process  of  decompo- 


THE  COAL  BEDS  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA. 


165 


sition  under  heat  and  pressure,  and  sealed  up  from  the  air.  The  wood\ 
stems  and  leaves  falling  upon  the  ground  and  becoming  water-soaked, 
or  carried  upon  ponds  as  "floating  islands"  and  finally  sinking  as  peat 
in  bogs,  forests  building  up  accumulations  of  trunks  and  twigs  many 
feet  in  thickness  over  the  surface  of  the  low  marshy  ground,  these  are 
the  beginnings  of  the  long  series  of  coal  formations  in  which  North 
Dakota  lignite  represents  one  of  the  stages,  and  following  this  the 
many  varieties  of  bituminous  coal  which  include  all  degrees  from  the 
higher  grades  of  lignite  to  bituminous  and  semi-bituminous,  and  the 
lower  grades  of  anthracite,  and  finally  the  hardest  diamond  anthracite. 
The  "Western  Coal  Measures."— The  rock  formations  in  which  the 
great  western  coal  fields  of  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Montana, 


FIG.  70.    An  Outcropping  of  Coal  on  the  Missouri  River. 
State  Geological  Survey  of  North  Dakota. 

Wyoming,  and  Colorado  occur  'have  been  called  the  "Western  Coal 
Measures"  to  distinguish  them  from  the  older  "Coal  Measures"  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  eastern  states,  which  belong  to  an  earlier  Time 
in  Geological  History.  The  rocks  in  which  the  western  coal  deposits 
occur  belong  mostly  to  the  Cretaceous  Era,  whereas  the  eastern  coal 
fields  belong  in  the  rock  formations  of  the  Carboniferous  Era. 

There  is  some  question  whether  the  North  Dakota  coal  beds  are 
buried  in  rocks  which  were  deposited  during  the  closing  portion  of  the 
Cretaceous  Era,  the  Age  of  Reptiles,  or  whether  they  belong  to  the 
earlier  part  of  the  next  later  era,  the  Tertiary,  or  Age  of  Mammals. 
The  rocks  are  known  as  the  Laramie  Formation,  and  this  is  generally 
considered  to  belong  with  the  Cretaceous,  though  the  Laramie  Forma- 


166  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

tion  seems  to  mark  the  transition,  or  crossing  over,  between  the  Creta- 
ceous and  the  Tertiary  Eras. 

The  highland  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  the  great  Missouri 
Plateau,  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  embracing  the  western  one-third  of 
the  State,  is  composed  of  the  strata  or  rock  layers  of  the  Laramie  group. 
Just  how  far  these  rocks  extend  east  of  the  foot  of  the  great  plateau 
front  into  the  basin  of  the  James  River  we  do  not  know  with  certainty, 
for  they  are  mostly  covered  with  drift  so  as  not  to  be  easily  seen,  but 
they  probably  extend  east  nearly  to  a  line  dividing  the  State  into  east  and 
west  halves. 

Coal  beds  which  are  profitable  for  mining  occur  in  the  Turtle  Moun- 
tains, and  very  extensive  mines  are  worked  on  the  upper  Mouse  River 
at  Burlington  and  on  the  Des  Lacs  River  at  Kenmare,  in  the  great 
valley  which  lies  between  the  Turtle  Mountains  and  the  eastern  edge 
of  the  Missouri  Plateau.  The  Mouse  and  Des  Lacs  Valleys  are  cut 
down  considerably  below  the  drift,  and  the  tunnels  to  the  mines  are 
made  from  the  hillsides  along  the  valleys. 

The  occurrence  of  mines  in  these  valleys  would  seem  to  show  that 
the  "Coal  Measures"  extend  across  the  broad  valley  from  the  Missouri 
Plateau  to  the  Turtle  Mountains.  The  opening  of  profitable  mines 
near  Harvey,  in  Wells  county,  indicates  that  the  rocks  in  which  the 
coal  beds  occur  extend  as  far  east  as  the  upper  James  River. 

Lignite  coal  has  been  found  in  some  of  the  lower  groups  of  rocks 
of  the  Cretaceous.  The  Fort  Benton  formation  has  furnished  coal  in 
some  of  the  states  farther  \vest,  but  this  formation  is  deeply  buried  in 
North  Dakota.  "The  formations  lying  next  above  the  Fort  Benton  and 
below  the  Laramie,  are  the  Niobrara,  the  Fort  Pierre,  and  the  Fox  Hills. 
These  formations  are  marine  or  sea-bottom  formations,  for  fossils  of 
sea-animals  are  found  in  the  rocks.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  North 
Dakota  was  covered  by  water  too  deep  for  the  formation  of  coal  beds 
from  the  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter  during  the  time  these  rocks 
were  being  deposited. 

The  Laramie  rocks  at  the  top  of  the  Cretaceous  series  are  mostly 
fresh  water  formations,  with  beds  of  coal,  formed  when  North  Dakota, 
or  at  least  its  western  half,  was  just  emerging  from  its  long  burial  un- 
der the  sea  during  the  time  in  which  the  marine,  or  salt-sea  forma- 
tions,- the  Fort  Benton,  the  Niobrara,  the  Fort  Pierre,  and  the  Fox 
Hills,  were  being  formed.  The  beds  of  coal  were  formed  when  the 
land  was  being  alternately  lifted  a  little  above  and  then  sinking  a  little 


THE  COAL  BEDS  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA. 


167 


108 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


below  sea-level.  The  conditions  for  the  gathering  of  thick  layers  of 
wood,  and  leaves,  and  stems  of  small  plants,  were  favorable  during  the 
Laramie  epoch  (an  epoch  is  the  time  during  which  a  formation  is  being 
deposited).  The  marshes  remained  marshes  for  a  long  time,  and  the 
peat-bogs  continued  to  gather  woody  materials  during  long  periods, 
before  being  buried  beneath  sediments.  The  'gathering  of  the  woody 
matter  in  broad  shallow  lakes,  forming  peat-bogs,  explains  why  beds 
of  coal  are  often  not  continuous  for  long  distances,  but  occur  in  beds 
which  are  thicker  toward  the  center  and  thin  out  toward  the  edges. 


A 


e  — 


£•..- 


-^f—zTH^-^ J^f^-X 


FIG.  72.    Mouse  River  Lignite  Coal  Company's  Mine.     A— Prairie  boulders,  sand  and  yellow  clay,  30  to 

60  feet.    B— Coal,  one  foot.    C— Sand  and  clay,  D— Sandstone,  E— Sand  and  clay,  about  20 

teet.    F— Coal,  one  and  one-half  feet.     G— Sand  and  yellow  clay,  about  15  feet. 

H— Gray  clay,  20  feet.    I— Blue  clay,  15  feet.    J— Coal,  10  feet. 

State  Geological  Survey  of  North  Dakota. 


This  also  explains  why  there  may  not  be  the  same  series  of  coal 
beds  one  above  another  in  different  regions.  The  beds  run  out  hori- 
zontally, and  so  there  may  be  more  or  fewer  seams  or  beds  in  a  vertical 
section  in  one  place  than  another.  It  explains  also  why  there  may  be 
differences  in  the  quality  of  coal  from  different  sections,  and  from  dif- 
ferent seams,  or  beds,  in  the  same  section.  It  would  seem  likely  that 


THE  COAL  BEDS  OF  NORTH  DAKOTA. 


169 


not  only  higher  and  lower  beds  would  be  struck  in  different  parts  of 
the  State,  as  well  as  in  the  same  section,  but  different  beds  might  be  at 
nearly  or  quite  the  same  level,  though  many  miles  apart.  Fifteen  to 
twenty  seams  or  beds  varying  from  an  inch  to  twenty-six  feet  in  thick- 
ness have  been  found  to  occur  in  a  vertical  distance  of  1,000  feet  in 
this  formation  in  the  states  farther  west.  The  thickness  of  the  Laramie 
formation  is  much  greater  farther  west  than  in  North  Dakota,  but  it 
is  estimated  to  be  about  1,000  feet  in  thickness  in  this  State. 

Sections  showing  the  coal  beds  and  rock  layers  above  and  below 
at  several  mines  are  given  in  the  accompanying  figures. 


FIG.  73.    Section  at  Lehigh  Mine.      A— About  25   feet    clay  and  gravel.      B— About  one  foot  coal 

C— About  25  feet,  clay,   etc.      D— About  two  feet   coal.      E— About  30  feet  clay,  etc. 

F— About  three  to  five  feet  compact  (gray)  clay.    G  -  About  10  to  1 5  feet  coal. 

State  Geological  Survey  of  North  Dakota. 


The  following  table  shows  the  elevations  above  sea-level  of  railroad 
stations  nearest  to  several  mines  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  These 
figures  do  not  showMhe  exact  elevations  of  the  coal  beds,  but  they  give 
some  suggestions  of  the  vertical  range  of  the  coal  beds  of  the  State. 
The  openings  leading  into  the  mines  are  in  most  cases  near  the  stations. 


170  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

Elevations  Above 
Stations.  Sea-Level. 

Harvey    i>596  feet. 

Davis  (near  Minot) i>573  " 

Burlington   l>59°  " 

Kenmare    •.  .  .  i,799  " 

Williston    1,859  " 

Bismarck    i  ,668  " 

Wilton    2,158  " 

Sims   :>958 

Lehigh  (near  Dickinson) 2,342 

The  accompanying  Map  of  the  State  shows  the  area  where  coal  has 
been  mined,  and  where  there  is  not  much  doubt  but  that  it  can  be  found 
wherever  a,  stream  cuts  deeply  into  the  rock  layers,  or  wherever  a  shaft 
may  be  sunk. 

In  the  Bad  Lands — In  the  Bad  Lands  where  the  streams  have  cut 
deeply  into  the  strata,  coal  beds  are  frequently  seen  in  the  sides  of  the 
buttes.  They  range  in  thickness  from  an  inch  or  less  to  six  or  eight 
feet,  or  even  more.  It  is  a  common  thing  for  the  ranchmen  in  this 
part  of  the  State  to  have  coal  mines  on  their  own  lands  or  within  short 
distances  of  their  houses,  so  that  they  haul  their  fuel  supply  directly 
from  the  mines,  shoveling  it  at  first  hand  into  wagons,  just  as  in  the 
eastern  states  farmers  go  to  the  woodlands  on  their  own  farms  for  loads 
of  wood.  Sometimes  a  coal  bed  is  cut  across  by  a  small  stream  on  the 
bank  of  which  stands  the  house,  so  that  coal  is  brought  directly  from 
the  mine  in  the  coal-pail  and  put  into  the  stove!  The  writer  has 
stopped  at  a  ranche  for  dinner  while  traveling  in  this  part  of  the  State, 
and  when  fuel  was  wanted  for  the  kitchen  stove  a  small  boy  was  de- 
spatched to  the  coal  mine  in  tire  back  yard  to  get  the  coal!  It  is  not  a 
joke  that  in  digging  a  cellar  for  a  house  a  coal  bed  may  be  dug  into 
only  a  little  below  the  surface,  so  that  in  the  winter  the  owner  of  the 
house  may  go  to  the  coal  mine  after  a  scuttle  of  coal  without  even 
going  out  of  his  own  house! 

A  point  of  advantage  the  western  farmer  has  over  his  eastern  cousin 
lies  in  the  fact  that  in  the  west  the  fuel  comes  from  a  forest  which  lived 
and  flourished  thousands  of  years  ago,  and  the  land  at  the  surface,  over 
the  coal  bed,  may  be  cultivated,  or  used  for  grazing,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  coal  forest  underneath  furnishes  the  supply  of  fuel.  But  in 
the  east  the  woodland  occupies  a  special  preserve  so  that  the  land  can- 
not be  used  for  farming  purposes! 


CHAPTER  THE  EIGHTEENTH. 
THE   BEGINNINGS  OF  NORTH   DAKOTA. 

The  Sea  Bottom  on  Which  the  Rocks  Were  Deposited. — The  great  In- 
land Sea  in  which  the  rock  formations  of  North  Dakota  were  laid  down 
as  sediments  extended  from  eastern  Minnesota  over  North  Dakota 
and  Montana  to  Idaho  and  Washington,  and  south  to  northern  Texas. 


••"vT^^pp 


FIG.  74.     Generalized  Section  across  Northern  Portion  of  North  Dakota,  showing  the  Formations. 

From  a  Crayon  Drawing  by  Miss  Bessie  M.  Willis  and  the  Author. 

Re-drawn  by  Prof.  Thomas  H.  Grosvenor. 

Into  this  great  sea  were  borne  the  sediments  from  the  surrounding 
land  areas,  and  the  waves  of  the  great  shallow  sea  beat  upon  the  shores 
and  eroded  the  rocks  into  sand  and  mud  and  distributed  them  over  its 
bottom,  forming  the  rocks  which  now  make  up  the  sandstones  and 
shales  of  the  Cretaceous  series,  or  system.  North  Dakota  was  then 
all  under  water. 

The  Cretaceous  system,  or  series  of  rocks,,  is  divided  into  Lower 


172  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

and  Upper,  the  basis  of  this  separation  being  the  different  conditions  of 
the  sea  bottom  during  the  earlier  and  later  times  of  the  Cretaceous 
Era.  The  Lower  Cretaceous  rocks  do  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  occur 
in  North  Dakota.  The  division  into  Lower  and  Upper  is,  therefore, 
made  from  the  rocks  in  other  states.  The  Upper  Cretaceous,  or  what 
will  here  be  called  simply  the  "Cretaceous"  series  of  rocks,  is  subdivided 
into  several  formations,  each  distinguished  by  certain  characteristics 
which  separate  it  from  the  others.  The  lowest  of  these  formations, 
the  Dakota  Sandstone,  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  series,  so  far  as  we  have 
got  down  to  the  "bottom"  in  North  Dakota.  The  other  formations 
follow  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  deposited  from  below  up,  each 
formation  being  described  as  "shale"  or  "sandstone,"  etc.,  according 
to  the  kind  of  rock  most  common  in  that  formation.  A  "shale"  forma- 
tion often  contains  some  sandstone,  however,  and  a  "sandstone"  forma- 
tion often  has  layers  of  shale.  Clays  occur  also  in  nearly  all  the 
formations.  The  thickness  so  far  as  it  is  known  is  given  for  each 
formatioi 

The  Geological  Formations.  Thickness. 

6.  Laramie   Sandstone,   Shale,  and   Clay,  with 

Lignite  Coal  1,000  feet. 

5.  Fox  Hills  Sandstone 100  " 

4.  Fort  Pierre  Shale,  with  Beds  of  Clay'. 600  " 

3.  Niobrara  Shale,  Calcareous  (Lime) 150-200  " 

2.  Fort  Benton  Shale 200  " 

i.  Dakota  Sandstone,  with  Lignite  Beds 600  " 

The  Fort  Benton  and  Niobrara  formations  are  together  called  the 
Colorado  formation,  and  the  Fort  Pierre  and  Fox  Hills  formations 
are  together  called  the  Montana  formation,  in  the  western  states,  but 
in  North  Dakota  it  seems  /nore  convenient  to  use  the  names  and 
divisions  here  given. 

The  total  thickness  of  all  the  Cretaceous  series  in  North  Dakota 
is  thus  seen  to  be  nearly  3,000  feet.  These  formations,  however,  are 
thinner  toward  the  east.  The  artesian  wells  at  Devils  Lake  and  James- 
town passed  through  about  1,400  feet  from  the  upper  layers  of  the  Fort 
Pierre  Shale  to  the  Dakota  Sandstone. 

When,  in  speaking  of  the  rocks  which  come  to  the  surface,  or  out- 
crop, at  any  place,  any  one  of  these  names  is  given  to  the  rocks,  it 
shows  in  what  part  of  the  Cretaceous  series  it  belongs,  and  hence 
whether  it  is  older  or  more  recent  than  some  other  of  the  series.  The 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   NORTH   DAKOTA.  173 

lowest  was  deposited  first,  and,  therefore,  is  the  oldest,  and  so  on  up 
through  the  series. 

The  lowest  and  oldest,  the  Dakota  Sandstone,  and  the  highest  and 
'most  recent,  the  Laramie  Sandstone,  are  fresh-water  or  brackish 
formations,  that  is,  they  were  deposited  as  sediments  either  in  ponds 
and  pools  of  fresh  water,  or  else  upon  the  bottom  of  a  very  shallow 
sea  in  which  the  water  was  only  slightly  salt,  or  brackish.  The  land 
now  embraced  in  North  Dakota  was  slowly  sinking,  and  the  sea  was 
creeping  upon  the  land  when  the  Dakota  Sandstone  was  being  formed. 
The  land  was  rising,  and  the  sea  was  drying  off  from  the  bottom  when 
the  Laramie  rocks  were  deposited  and  the  great  forests  grew  which 
formed  the  coal  beds.  The  other  formations,  those  formed  after  the 
Dakota  Sandstone  and  before  the  Laramie,  are  marine  or  sea  forma- 
tions deposited  when  the  whole  region  of  North  Dakota  was  a  sea 
bottom. 

It  is  to  the  fact  that  the  rocks  of  the  Fort  Benton,  Niobrara,  Fort 
Pierre,  and  Fox  Hills  formations  are  salt  sea  sediments  that  the  water 
of  the  lakes  and  streams  of  a  large  part  of  the  State  contain  so  much  salt 
and  alkali.  The  salt  and  alkaline  substances  were  in  the  sea  water, 
and  so,  as  the  sediments  were  deposited,  they  were  saturated  with  salt 
and  alkali  water,  and  when  the  sea  dried  off  from  the  mud  and  sand  of 
the  bottom,  and  these  became  the  shales  and  sandstones  of  these  forma- 
tions, they  contained  the  salts  and  alkalies  which  now  dissolve  out  into 
the  waters  of  the  lakes  and  streams. 

The  highland  which  formed  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Agassiz, 
extending  from  the  Pembina  Mountain  on  the  north  to  the  Coteau  des 
Prairies  on  the  south,  called  the  Manitoba  Escarpment,  is  an  outcrop- 
ping of  the  edges  of  the  horizontal  layers,  mostly  of  the  Fort  Pierre 
formation.  This  outcropping  was  caused  by  the  erosion  of  the  great 
pre-glacial  valley  in  which  now.  lie  the  level  prairies  of  the  bottom  of 
Lake  Agassiz. 

\Ye  have  seen  how  this  great  valley  was  filled  with  the  ice  of  the 
Great  Ice-Sheet,  and  how  as  the  ice  melted  this  basin  came  to  be  filled 
with  water  because  the  course  of  the  river  to  the  northward  was  blocked 
by  the  ice,  and  Lake  Agassiz  came  to  occupy  the  great  valley,  its 
western  shore  being  the  escarpment,  or  cut  off  edges,  of  the  Fort 
Pierre,  Niobrara,  and  Fort  Benton  formations.  We  are  now  study- 
ing a  much  earlier  period,  when  the  rocks  were  deposited  in  which  the 
valley  was  afterward  cut. 


174 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 


The  "Manitoba  Escarpment." — The  great  Inland  Sea  during  the  Cre- 
taceous Era  spread  over  all  of  North  Dakota  and  a  large  part  of  Minne- 
sota, although  all  of  Minnesota,  and  probably  a  little  of  the  eastern 
e<lge  of  North  Dakota,  had  before  been  raised  above  sea-level  so  that 
it  had  been  dry  land.  But  the  Dakota  Sandstone  was  deposited 
over  a  large  part  of  western  Minnesota,  showing  that  the  sea  not  only 


North,Amencd  in  the  Creteeeouj  Sri. 
Areas  Covered  by  ?Ae£ed) 


FIG.  75.    After  Dana. 

covered  North  Dakota  and  the  states  west  to  where  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains are  now,  but  extended  east,  covering  much  of  Minnesota.  So 
the  sea-bottom  formations,  the  Fort  Benton,  Niobrara,  Fort  Pierre, 
and  probably  the  Fox  Hills,  were  deposited  over  all  of  North  Dakota 
and  western  Minnesota,  but  during  the  long  period  following  the  Cre- 
taceous Era,  known  as  the  Tertiary  Era,  and  before  the  time  of  the 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   NORTH   DAKOTA.  175 

Glacial  Period,  the  great  valley  of  the  Old  Red  River  of  the  North  was 
eroded,  carrying  away  the  sediments  which  had  been  deposited  over 
eastern  North  Dakota  and  western  Minnesota,  so  that  the  outcrop- 
ping edges  of  these  formations  now  occur  along  the  west  side  of  the" 
Red  River  Valley. 

The  strata,  or  layers,  which  are  at  the  top  of  this  highland  under- 
lying the  drift  in  its  northern  and  higher  portion,  the  Pembina  Moun- 
tain, and  extending  south  more  than  half  way  across  the  State,  and  also 
the  outcropping  edges  along  the  northern  half  of  the  highland,  are  Fort 
Pierre  shales.  The  Niobrara  and  Fort  Benton  formations  outcrop  lower 
down  on  the  old  valley  wall,  but  they  are  deeply  buried  by  the  drift  so 
that  we  do  not  readily  see  them.  About  ten  miles  east  of  Lisbon,  be- 
low the  Big  Bend,  just  after  the  Sheyenne  River  enters  upon  the  plain 
of  the  Lake  Agassiz  bottom,  this  river  has  cut  a  deep  gorge  in  the  Fort 
Benton  shale.  This  formation  is  also  penetrated  in  drilling  artesian 
wells  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State,  lying  beneath  the  drift. 

The  Dakota  Sandstone  forms  the  floor  of  the  old  valley  beneath 
the  great  depth  of  drift  in  the  part  of  its  course  lying  between  Grand 
Forks  and  Larimore  and  southward  to  Casselton  and  Fargo,  though 
patches  of  shale,  which  are  probably  Fort  Benton,  were  struck  by  arte- 
sian wells  at  Fargo  and  Mayville.  These  probably  represent  the  tops 
of  higher  places  or  low  hills  on  the  old  (or  pre-glacial)  valley  bottom. 
Farther  south  in  the  higher  part  of  the  old  valley  the  floor  of  the  valley 
is  probably  the  Fort  Benton  shale.  This  shale  is  struck  by  artesian 
wells  in  the  vicinity  of  Wahpeton.  In  the  lower  (northern)  portion  of 
the  valley  the  floor  is  older  rock  than  the  Dakota  Sandstone,  the  arte- 
sian well  at  Grafton  passing  through  the  drift  into  limestone  belonging 
to  the  Lower  Silurian,  which  is  much  older  than  the  Cretaceous.  The 
section  through  the  formations  of  the  northern  part  of  the  State  (Figure 
74)  will  make  this  more  clear. 

West  of  the  Manitoba  Escarpment,  in  the  central  portion  of  the 
State,  the  eroded  surface  of  the  Fort  Pierre  and  Fox  Hills  formations 
underlie  the  drift.  The  Sheyenne,  James,  and  Mouse  Rivers  have  cut 
down  their  channels  in  many  places  so  that  the  strata  of  these  forma- 
tions have  been  cut  into.  The  deep  valley  of  the  Sheyenne  River  has 
cut  into  the  Fort  Pierre  Shale  through  much  of  its  course  from  Devils 
Lake  south  to  the  Big  Bend  east  of  Lisbon,  and  a  large  amount  of  shale 
was  added  to  the  Sheyenne  Delta,  eroded  along  the  course  of  this  val- 
ley during  the  tfrne  of  the  glacial  flood  waters.  The  Valley  of  the 


176  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

James  is  not  nearly  as  deep,  and  is  cut  through  much  of  its  course  in 
North  Dakota  in  the  Fox  Hills  Sandstone. 

The  Fax  Hills  Sandstone  extends  east  underneath  the  drift  prob- 
ably nearly  to  Devils  Lake.  From  the  fact  of  this  sandstone  being  the 
surface  rock  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Turtle  Mountains  south  across  the 
State,  comes  the  sandy  character  of  the  drift  hills,  and  the  tracts  of 
sand  dunes  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  old  Lake  Souris  bottom,  the 
soft  sand-rock  being  easily  ploughed  up  by  the  moving  ice-sheet,  and 
dumped  in  the  lake  by  the  melting  of  the  ice. 

The  Missouri  Plateau — Farther  west  rises  abruptly  the  great  hill- 
country  known  as  the  Plateau  du  Coteau  du  Missouri,  or  the  Plateau 
of  the  Missouri  Hills.  This  highland  is  composed  of  Laramie  rock- 
strata,  and  the  sudden  rise  from  the  lower  land  of  the  James  and  Shey- 
enne  Valleys  of  300  to  400  feet  is  due  to  the  erosion  of  the  eastward 
continuation  of  these  rocks,  just  as  the  Fort  Pierre,  and  the  formations 
below  it,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  were  eroded  by  the  pre-glacial 
Red  River  of  the  North,  forming  the  Manitoba  Escarpment. 

The  Turtle  Mountains,  on  the  International  Boundary  about  mid- 
way between  the  Coteau  du  Missouri  and  Pembina  Mountain,  is  a 
plateau  of  Laramie  strata,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  great  wide-spread- 
ing prairies,  the  old  valley  bottoms  of  the  rivers  which  eroded  the  inte- 
rior portion  of  the  State,  and  carried  away  the  upper  part  of  the  Fox 
Hills  and  Fort  Pierre  formations,  in  the  region  east  of  these  moun- 
tains, and  the  Laramie  strata  west  to  the  highland  of  the  Coteau  du 
Missouri.  Thus  the  Turtle  Mountain  Plateau  is  a  fragment  of  the 
great  Missouri  Plateau  which  was  not  carried  away  by  the  erosion 
which  lowered  the  whole  country  round  about  it. 

Dog  Den  Butte,  the  Mauvais  or  Big  Butte,  south  of  Church's  Ferry 
and  Leeds,  and  probably  Devils  Heart  and  Sully's  Hill  south  of  Devils 
Lake,  are  fragments -of  the  Laramie  strata  of  the  great  Missouri  Plateau 
which  have  not  been  entirely  carried  away  by  erosion. 

All  the  great  plateau  country  to  the  westward  is  Laramie.  The 
Bad  Lands  along  the  Little  Missouri  River,  and  the  Yellowstone  in 
Montana,  are  Laramie  rocks,  made  up  of  sandstones,  shales,  and  clays, 
with  beds  of  coal  and  lava.  This  great  upper  part  of  the  Cretaceous 
series  or  system  of  rocks  extends  westward  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
It  extended  once  much  farther  east  than  now  also,  and  it  probably  cov- 
ered all  the  State.  At  least  it  reached  farther  east  than  the  Turtle 
Mountains,  for  the  form  of  this  plateau  shows  that  the  rock  layers  once 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   NORTH   DAKOTA. 


177 


WS 


^  fttt  Salt 
iSlttt  Clay 


ISO  fttt 
jkrKtt  Strdif 
Cldf,  (fanqirj 

to  Till  Bt/ow. 


ZO  f  «  et  far  J  Tilt 


137  1«t  LiMito/re 


Ztfttf  Quit  found 
Vffat 


ffeJ  Stole 


(Jordan  J<3n<f- 

Jtofjf 

M  ft  JUJ  fat/9 


TOJ-  Sfl.  2>rrj(>«ch  San 
f^gf!  *'*'""' 


Z<?6  fttt 

DRIFT 


3/7  f«1 

LOWER 
BILURltift 


UPPER 
ChMBRIW 


MCHEM 


FIG.  76.    Section  showing  the  Rock  Formations  passed  through  by  the  Artesian  Well 
at  Grafton.    After  Upliam. 


178  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

extended  farther  east.  This  broad  valley  between  the  Turtle  Moun- 
tains and  the  Missouri  Plateau  was  eroded  during  the  same  time  that 
the  Old  Red  River  Valley  was  being  formed  farther  east. 

The  Older  Rocks  Underlying  the  Eastern  Portion  of  the  State — Below 
the  Dakota  Sandstone  in  the  Red  River  Valley  are  still  older  rock 
formations.  The  Jura-Trias,  the  Carboniferous,  the  Devonian,  the 
Silurian,  the  Cambrian,  and  finally  the  oldest  of  all,  and  the  oldest  in 
the  world,  the  Archaean,  lie  one  below  another  under  the  rocks  of  the 
State,  and  their  thinner  eastern  edges  extend  along  the  eastern  portion 
of  the  State.  These  are  shown  by  borings  for  artesian  wells.  An  arte- 
sian well  at  Grafton,  915  feet  deep,  after  passing  through  nearly  300 
feet  of  drift  penetrates  several  older  formations,  into  the  granite  at  the 
bottom, — which  may  indeed  be  called  "the  bottom,"  for  it  was  the  first 
formed  and  hence  the  oldest  of  all  the  solid  rocks  of  the  earth. 

This  oldest  Archaean  granite  comes  to  the  surface  in  Minnesota 
about  Lake  Superior,  and  northward  in  Canada.  It  was  the  old,  first 
beginning  of  the  Continent,  being  at  first  an  island  raised  above  the  sea. 
Other  formations  lie  all  around  it  and  flank  or  lap  upon  its  sides.  The 
ice  of  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  ploughed  its  way  across  it  and  broke  off  huge 
masses,  which  are  the  "hard-head"  boulders  now  scattered  over  the 
prairies. 

West  of  Winnipeg  in  Canada  the  Silurian,  which  is  a  limestone  for- 
mation, is  the  surface  rock,  and  from  it  were  broken  off  and  carried 
away  limestone  fragments  by  the  great  ice-plow,  and  these  were  ground 
up  to  make  the  fertile  wheat  lands  of  our  State.  Many  of  them  are 
scattered  over  the  prairies,  not  having  been  entirely  ground  up  by  the 
ice-mill.  Boulders  of  the  softer  and  more  easily  crumbling  shales  and 
sandstones  were  soon  broken  and  pulverized  into  clay  or  ground  into 
sand. 

How  Old  Is  North  Dakota?— It  is  natural  to  ask  how  long  ago  it  was 
that  the  great  Inland  Sea  covered  North  Dakota,  and  how  long  it  has 
been  since  the  forests  grew  which  have  become  the  coal  beds.  It  is  a 
fair  enough  question,  and  one  which  a»^  thoughtful  person  is  bound 
to  ask,  in  his  mind  at  least.  But  it  is  one  which  the  most  learned  scien- 
tist cannot  answer  with  accuracy,  as  time  is  measured  in  years.  We  do 
not  know  how  long  it  is  since  civilization  began  upon  the  earth  because 
we  have  not  a  written  record  from  the  beginning.  We  can  only  infer 
from  the  marks  left  in  buildings  and  implements  and  other  things  which 
show  man's  handiwork.  So  we  can  only  infer  from  the  great  hancli- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  NORTH   DAKOTA.  179 

work  of  Nature  how  long  the  time  has  been  that  geologic  processes 
have  been  fashioning  the  earth.  We  do  not  know  how  long  the  time 
has  been  since  the  Glacial  Period,  or  Ice  Age,  but  we  know  that  it  is 
only  a  little  while  as  compared  with  the  time  since  the  coal  beds  of 
North  Dakota  were  formed. 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  get  a  basis  of  comparison  by 
which  the  time  since  the  Ice  Age  could  be  measured  in  years,  but  no 
conclusion  which  can  be  considered  as  fact  has  been  reached.  Nothing 
more  than  estimates  can  be  said  to  have  been  made.  A  method  of 
studying  the  problem  is  this:  The  gorge  of  the  Mississippi  River  from 
Fort  Snelling  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  has  been  formed  since  the 
closing  stages  of  the  Ice  Age.  This  is  known  because  the  River  was 
forced  out  of  its  old  channel  by  the  drift  which  filled  its  valley,  and 
when  the  river  re-entered  its  old  channel  at  Fort  Snelling  a  "falls"  was 
formed.  The  falls  have  been  "moving  back,"  by  cutting  the  rock  ledge 
over  which  the  water  passes,  ever  since  that  time.  The  gorge  at 
Niagara  Falls,  New  York,  has  been  formed  in  a  similar  manner,  the 
gorge  having  been  cut  back  from  Lewiston  to  the  present  cataract. 
Now  it  would  seem  a  simple  matter  to  see  how  far  the  falls  cut  back  in 
one  year,  and  then  by  measuring  the  length  of  the  gorge  (from  Fort 
Snelling  to  the  falls  at  Minneapolis,  or  from  Lewiston  to  the  Niagara 
cataract),  divide  this  distance  by  the  amount  of  cutting  in  onfe  year. 
This  would  give  the  time  in  years  since  the  close  of  the  Ice  Age.  But 
the  problem  is  not  as  simple  as  it  may  at  first  appear.  Geologists  have 
reached  estimates  ranging  from  6,000  to  10,000  years  (Upham)  to  more 
than  30,000  years  (Gilbert).  So  that  the  result  at  best  is  only  an  esti- 
mate 

But  suppose  we  assume  a  rather  low  estimate  of  10,000  years  for 
the  time  since  the  close  of  the  Ice  Age,  then  how  long  has  it  been  since 
the  coal  beds  were  formed  during  the  closing  stages  of  the  Cretaceous 
era?  How  long  was  North  Dakota  under  the  sea  after  the  Dakota 
Sandstone  had  been  deposited,  while  the  salt  and  alkaline  sediments, 
which  now  make  up  the  shales  and  sandstones  of  the  Fort  Benton,  Nio- 
brara,  Fort  Pierre  and  Fox  Hills  formations,  were  being  deposited? 
Attempts  have  been  made  to  estimate  the  length  of  geologic  periods 
by  measurements  of  the  rate  of  accumulation  of  sediments  on  the  sea 
bottom  at  the  present  time,  but  these  estimates  are  quite  as  variable  as 
those  of  the  time  required  for  the  cutting  of  the  gorges  referred  to. 
Without  considering  the  methods  of  computing  by  which  the  estimates 


180  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

have  been  made  we  may  think  of  the  time  of  the  Ice  Age,  that  is,  the 
length  of  time  that  the  cold  of  the  Glacial  Period  continued,  as  five  to  ten 
times  as  long  as  the  time  since  the  ice  finally  melted,  or  the  time  dur- 
ing which  the  gorge  of  the  Mississippi  River  below  Minneapolis,  and 
the  Niagara  gorge  from  the  Falls  to  Lewiston,  were  being  cut,  or  50,000 
to  100,000  years  (Upham,  Prestwich).  The  time  since  the  formation 
of  the  coal  beds  in  North  Dakota  would  be  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  or 
thirty  times  as  long  as  that  which  has  passed  since  the  beginning  of  the 
Glacial  Period,  or  nearly  300  times  as  long  as  the  time  since  the  ice  finally 
melted  away  and  Lake  Agassiz  began  to  drain  toward  the  north  and  the 
present  Red  River  Valley  began  to  appear  as  dry  land.*  This  would  make 
the  age  of  the  shales  and  sandstones  and  coal  beds  of  North  Dakota  nearly 
3,000,000  years,  and  the  time  during  which  the  salt-sea  sediments  which 
occur  between  the  Dakota  Sandstone  and  the  Coal  Measures,  the  Fort  Ben- 
ton,  Niobrara,  Fort  Pierre  and  Fox  Hills  formations  were  being  formed, 
may  have  been  1,000,000  years. f  Of  course,  no  one  knows  how  long 
it  has  been.  These  figures  are  only  estimates,  but  they  will  at  least  serve 
as  a  suggestion  that  time  is  long.  They  should  not  be  taken  by  the 
reader  as  settled  facts,  for  they  are  not.  But  that  geologic  time  is  im- 
mensely long  as  compared  with  human  standards  of  years  we  may  safely 
admit. 

Pefhaps  a  better  idea  of  the  great  length  of  geologic  time  may  be 
gained  from  this,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region 
was  under  the  sea  during  the  Cretaceous  era  and  perhaps  till  after  the 
depositing  of  the  rock  strata  of  the  Laramie  formation  with  its  coal 
beds  in  North  Dakota.  In  fact,  it  is  likely  that  the  great  uplift  by 
which  the  Laramie  rocks  in  North  Dakota  were  raised  so  that  the 
region  became  dry  land  was  a  part  of  the  beginning  of  the  great  move- 
ment by  which  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  heaved  up.  And  since  the 
Laramie  strata  were  deposited  and  the  coal  beds  were  buried  the  region 
of  the  Colorado  Canons  has  been  elevated  from  10,000  to  11,000  feet, 
and  erosion  has  cut  down  10,000  feet  (Dutton).  And  in  British  Col- 
umbia it  is  estimated  that  an  elevation  of  32,000  to  35,000  feet  has 
taken  place  since  Cretaceous  time,  and  canons  5,000  to  6,000  feet  deep 
have  been  eroded  (G.  M.  Dawson). 


*  Based  on  Walcott's  estimate  of  the  length  of  Csenozoic  Time,  and  Upham 's  esti- 
mate of  the  length  of  Glacial  and  Post-Glacial  Time. 

f  Based  on  Walcott's  estimate  of  27,240,000  years  for  the  whole  of  Mesozoic  Time. 


CHAPTER  THE   NINETEENTH. 
THE   WATER  SUPPLY. 

Conditions'  Necessary  for  Artesian  Wells. — In  a  prairie  country  more 
than  in  a  broken  or  hilly  country  the  water  supply  for  men  and  animals 
comes  from  wells.  In  a  prairie  country  there  are  generally  few  streams 
and  these  are  apt  to  be  small  and  often  sluggish  so  that  their  waters 
are  not  good  for  drinking,  and  there  are  not  usually  many  springs.  In 
North  Dakota  a  large  part  of  the  water  supply  for  towns  and  cities  as 
well  as  farms  comes  largely  from  wells.  This  condition  makes  the  pos- 
sibility of  obtaining  artesian  wells  over  a  large  part  of  the  State  a  very 
fortunate  thing.  An  immense  saving  to  the  people  of  North  Dakota 
results  each  year  from  the  fact  that  the  water  flows  from  the  depths  of 
the  earth  without  being  pumped. 

Artesian  wells  have  been  in  use  for  hundreds  of  years,  but  the  fact 
that  they  have  been  long  known  does  not  make  it  possible  to  obtain 
them  in  every  place.  It  is  only  where  the  structure  of  the  earth  deep 
below  the  surface  is  such  as  to  cause  an  upward  pressure  of  the  water 
that  an  artesian  well  can  be  obtained. 

The  word  "artesian"  is  borrowed  from  France  from  the  province 
of  Artois,  because  such  wells  were  first  known  there.  When  flowing 
wells  began  to  be  found  in  other  parts  of  the  world  they  were  called 
Artois  wells  or  Artois-ian  wells,  and  by  usage  the  word  has  become 
"artesian." 

Artesian  wells  differ  irom  common  wells  in  that  the  water  flows 
from  them  naturally,  that  is,  without  being  pumped.  They  are  often 
deep,  but  there  are  many  wells  not  artesian  which  are  much  deeper 
than  some  artesian  wells.  Sometimes  artesian  wells  are  a  mile  or  more 
in  depth,  and  there  are  many  in  North  Dakota  which  are  less  than  fifty 
feet  in  depth.  There  are  even  natural  artesian  wells,  in  which  the 
water  rises  to  the  surface  as  springs,  but  yet  the  flowing  of  the  water  is 
due  to  the  same  causes  as  those  which  make  the  flow  from  a  boring. 

The  reader  will  be  able  to  understand  the  conditions  which  are 
necessary  for  an  artesian  well  from  Figure  77.  The  section  shows  the 

181 


182 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


relation  of  the  underlying  rocks  frqpi  the  Red  River  Valley  westward 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  source  of  the  water  supply  is  the  region 
along  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  where  the  rain  which  falls  upon 
the  ground  soaks  into  the  soil  and  travels  underground  along  the 
porous  gravel  and  sand  of  the  Dakota  Sandstone.  The  water  follows 
this  layer  at  first  for  the  same  reason  that  it  flows  down  hill  on  the  sur- 
face. It  fills  all  the  little  cavities  or  spaces  in  the  loose  rock  because 
of  the  pressure  due  to  the  weight  of  the  water. 

Now,  if  a  boring  is  made  from  the  surface  down  through  the  over- 
lying rock  layers  the  water  will  rise  in  this  opening  and  there  will  be 


FIG.  77.    Section  showing  Water  Supply  of  Deep  Artesian  Wells.    After  Upham. 

a  flowing  well.  How  rapidly  the  water  will  rise  above  the  ground  and 
flow  out  at  the  surface  or  how  high  it  will  rise  depends  upon  the  pressure 
or  "head"  which  the  water  has,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  height  of 
the  tower  on  which  the  water  tank  stands  in  a  city  determines  how 
rapid  a  stream  of  water  can  be  poured  from  a  hose  in  time  of  fire,  or 
how  high  a  stream  can  be  thrown,  or  how  high  it  can  be  made  to  run 
in  pipes  in  the  houses. 

Not  taking  into  account  the  friction  of  the  water  in  its  passage  in 
the  rocks  it  will  rise  as  high  as  the  source  or  collecting  ground  along 
the  foot  of  the  mountains  from  whence  it  comes.  But  it  will  not  ac- 
tually rise  nearly  as  high  because  of  the  friction,  but  we  may  think  of 
the  flow  from  an  artesian  well  being  determined  by  the  "head"  or 
height  of  the  land  where  the  rainwater  soaks  into  the  ground,  and  if 
this  is  a  good  deal  higher  than  the  surface  where  the  well  is  the  water 
will  flow  out  with  considerable  force,  but  if  it  is  not  much  higher  and  is 
a  long  distance  away  then  the  water  may  rise  only  part  way  in  the  bor- 
ing and  not  flow  out  at  all. 

There  must  be  a  layer  of  clay  or  shale  or  some  rock  through  which 
water  does  not  pass  readily  both  above  and  below  the  gravel  and  sand 
layer  or  else  the  water  would  soak  away  into  the  other  layers  of  rock 


THE   WATER  SUPPLY.  183 

and  so  would  not  rise  in  the  boring  and  flow  out  at  the  surface.  There 
are,  therefore,  certain  conditions  necessary  for  an  artesian  well;  there 
must  be,  firstly,  a  collecting  ground  higher  than  the  surface  where  the 
boring  is  made;  secondly,  there  must  be  a  layer  of  rock  both  above  and 
below  the  layer  from  which  the  water  flows  through  which  water  can- 
not readily  pass;  and,  thirdly,  there  must  be  enough  difference  between 
the  height  of  the  collecting  ground  and  the  place  where  the  boring  is 
made  to  overcome  the  friction  or  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  water. 

Deep  Artesian  Wells  West  of  the  Red  River  Valley. — The  artesian  wells 
at  Devils  Lake,  Jamestown,  Ellendale  and  Oakes,  and  a  large  number 
in  South  Dakota,  obtain  their  water  supply  from  the  Dakota  Sandstone 
by  deep  borings  through  the  overlying  formations.  The  borings  vary 
in  depth  from  less  than  one-fifth  of  a  mile  at  Oakes  to  more  than  one- 
third  of  a  mile  at  Devils  Lake  and  Jamestown.  These  pierce  through 
the  Fort  Pierre,  Niobrara  and  ,  Fort  Benton  formations,  which  are 
mostly  shale  and  through  which  water  does  not  readily  pass. 

From  the  section  showing  the  formations  of  the  State  (Figure  74) 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  top  of  the  Dakota  Sandstone  in  the  northern 
portion  of  the  State  is  nearly  at  sea-level.  The  depot  at  Devils  Lake 
is  1,468  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  surface  about  the  well 
is  six  or  eight  feet  higher.  The  depth  of  the  well  is  1,511  feet.  The 
boring  penetrates  eighty  feet  into  fine  white  sand.  The  top  of  the 
Dakota  Sandstone  is,  therefore,  at  this  point  about  forty-five  feet  above 
sea-level. 

The  depot  at  Jamestown  is  1,395  feet  above  sea-level,  and  the  well 
reaches  a  depth  of  1,476  feet,  penetrating  into  the  top  of  the  sand- 
stone. The  surface  about  the  well  is  about  eight  feet  below  the  depot. 
The  upper  part  of  the  Dakota  Sandstone  beneath  Jamestown  is  there- 
fore about  eighty-nine  feet  below  sea-level. 

Ellendale  is  1,449  ^eet  above  the  sea  and  the  well  penetrates  the 
Dakota  Sandstone  at  a  depth  of  1,087  feet>  so  that  the  upper  portion 
of  the  Dakota  Sandstone  at  this  place  is  362  feet  above  sea-level.  At 
Oakes  the  elevation  is  1,322  feet  and  the  Dakota  Sandstone  is  reached 
at  a  depth  of  944  feet,  so  that  the  Dakota  Sandstone  beneath  the  sur- 
face at  Oakes  is  378  feet  above  the  sea.  Farther  south  in  South  Da- 
kota the  sandstone  is  reached  at  still  less  depths,  showing  that  its  upper 
portion  is9 nearer  the  surface  southward.  At  Vermilion  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  South  Dakota  the  sandstone  is  reached  at  323  feet  below 
the  surface,  or  818  feet  above  sea-level. 


184 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


It  would,  therefore,  seem  that  artesian  wells  may  be  expected  to 
be  obtained  anywhere  over  the  central  and  eastern  portion  of  the  State, 
and  much  farther  west,  by  penetrating  to  the  depth  necessary  to  reach 
the  Dakota  Sandstone. '  It  is  not  always  possible,  however,  to  get  a 
flow  of  water  even  when  the  general  conditions  are  such  as  to  warrant 
the  expectation.  Sometimes  the  sandstone  is  pierced  in  a  place 'where 
from  some  local  cause,  such  as  an  unusually  hard  place  in  the  sandstone 
rock,  the  water  is  not  able  to  pass  readily  through  the  rock  and  so 
cannot  rise  in  the  boring  with  force  enough  to  cause  a  flow. 

The  artesian  well  at  Grafton  penetrates  through  the  drift  to  a  depth 
of  298  feet,  but  instead  of  entering  the  Dakota  Sandstone  passes  next 
through  137  feet  of  limestone  belonging  to  the  Lower  Silurian  forma- 


FIG.  78.    Section  showing  the  Series  of  Artesian  Wells  from  Devils  Lake  and  Jamestown  southward 
to  Yankton  and  Vermilion.    Horizontal  scale,  90  miles  to  an  inch.     U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

tion,  and  obtains  its  flow  of  water  from  a  sandstone  layer  still  lower 
in  the  Lower  Silurian  series.  The  well  had  a  depth  of  915  feet  when 
first  drilled,  a  small  flow  of  very  salt  water  being  obtained  at  a  depth 
of  898  feet,  from  a  sandstone  layer  next  to  the  Archaean  Granite.  The 
boring  was  filled,  however,  below  the  sandstone  layer  which  yields  the 
very  large  flow  of  brackish  water. 

A  section  of  the  rocks  passed  through  by  the  boring  is  shown  in 
Figure  76.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Dakota  Sandstone  was 
not  struck  at  all,  showing  that  this  sandstone  does  not,  in  this  part  of 
the  Red  River  Valley,  extend  as  far  east  as  this. 

Artesian  Wells  in  the  Red  River  Valley.— In  the  Red  River  Valley 
there  are  many  artesian  wells  which  range  in  depth  from  250  feet  to 
400  feet,  and  which,  like  the  deep  wells  at  Devils  Lake,  Jamestown, 
Tower  City,  Oakes  and  Ellendale,  derive  their  water  supply  from  the 
far-distant  foothills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  t 

From  Blanchard  north  to  southern  Manitoba  most  of  the  artesian 
wells  are  of  this  class.  The  source  of  the  water  is  the  same  as  that  of 


THE   WATER   SUPPLY.  185 

the  deep  wells  farther  west,  that  is,  the  Dakota  Sandstone.  To  obtain 
an  artesian  well,  therefore,  it  is  needful  to  penetrate  through  the  mass 
of  drift.  The  greater  part  of  the  material  of  the  deeper  portion 
of  the  floor  of  Lake  Agassiz  consists  of  boulder-clay  or  till.  Water 
cannot  pass  through  clay  much  more  readily  than  through  a  porcelain 
dish.  The  glacial  clay  has,  therefore,  to  be  drilled  through,  and  when 
the  sandstone  is  reached  a  flow  of  water  usually  results.  This  is  not 
always  the  case,  for  sometimes  the  sandstone  is  hard  and  compact,  so 
that  the  water  is  not  able  to  soak  through  it  readily,  and  so  it  is  not 
always  possible  to  obtain  an  artesian  well. 

The  drill  penetrates  through  a  few  feet  of  soil  and  fine  silt  and  soon 
enters  blue  clay.  Occasionally  there  are  layers  of  sand  and  gravel,  and 
large  boulders  are  sometimes  struck.  But  always  a  harder  layer  of 
clay  known  to  the  driller  as  "hard-pan"  is  found  at  the  bottom  of  the 
clay,  and  then  beyond  this  is  the  water-bearing  sandstone.  This  bot- 
tom "hard-pan"  is  the  part  of  the  drift  which  is  next  to  the  underlying 
rock,  and  is  always  passed  through  in  drilling  or  digging  wells  either 
in  the  Red  River  Valley  or  west  of  it  wherever  the  drift  lies  upon  the 
surface.  Several  wells  in  the  vicinity  of  Mayville  and  Blanchard,  and 
northward,  range  in  depth  from  300  to  400  feet,  water  being  obtained 
from  white  sandstone  just  below  the  hard-pan. 

Mineral  Substances  in  the  Water  of  Artesian  Wells. — The  water  from 
artesian  wells  in  North  Dakota  generally  contains  some  mineral  matter. 
That  from  some  wells  is  very  salt,  that  is,  it  contains  the  kind  of  salt 
we  use  in  our  food,  or  "common  salt."  Other  wells  contain  a  greater 
amount  of  salt,  but  do  not  taste  "salty"  or  like  brine;  they  contain  other 
kinds  of  salt.  Some  of  these  give  a  bitter  taste  to  the  water,  and  some- 
times the  water  is  a  bitter  brine,  and  still  other  salts  give  a  sparkling 
and  pleasant  taste  such  as  those  of  "hard"  waters  in  limestone  regions. 
Hard  limestone  waters  are  sometimes  called  "pure"  because  of  their 
clear  and  sparkling  character.  Such  waters  are  far  from  pure  though 
they  may  be  good  for  drinking  and  general  uses.  Some  wells  furnish 
water  that  is  soft  so  that  it  is  good  for  washing.  It  is  "soft"  because 
it  does  not  contain  those  salts  which  make  it  "hard,"  though  it  may 
contain  more  salts  of  other  kinds.  The  water  from  the  deep  well  at 
Devils  Lake  contains  seven  times  as  much  common  salt  (Sodium  Chlo- 
ride) and  three  and  a  half  times  as  much  Glauber's  salt  (Sodium  Sul- 
phate) as  the  water  from  the  Jamestown  well,  and  yet  the  water  from 
the  Devils  Lake  well  is  called  "soft." 


186 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


The  salts  which  are  in  the  lake  water  of  Devils  Lake  are  much  the 
same  as  those  which  are  in  the  water  of  the  artesian  well  at  Devils 
Lake  city.  The  waters,  therefore,  which  soak  into  the  ground  and 
become  the  source  of  the  artesian  well  600  or  700  miles  away  dissolve 
the  salts  from  the  rocks  through  which  they  pass,  in  a  similar  manner 
as  the  rains  falling  upon  the  ground  dissolve  the  salts  from  the  soil  and 
carry  them  into  the  lake. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  rocks  in  North  Dakota,  the  Cre- 
taceous formations,  were  deposited  in  a  great  inland  sea  or  ocean,  and 
ocean  waters  are  always  salt.  Our  artesian  waters  are,  therefore,  much 
like  the  sea  water  of  the  ancient  oceans. 

The  water  from  all  the  wells  is  not  the  same  because  it  does  not  all 
pass  through  the  same  kind  of  rock.  Wells,  therefore,  in  different 
localities  furnish  water  differing  in  quality.  Different  rock  layers  con- 
tain some  more  and  some  less  of  a  certain  kind  of  salt.  The  rain  water 
soaking  into  the  ground  and  passing  slowly  through  it  dissolves  out 
different  kinds  of  salt. 

Another  Class  of  Artesian  Wells.— There  is  another  class  of  artesian 
wells  in  the  Red  River  Valley  in  which  the  source  of  the  water  supply 
is  probably  not  the  same  as  that  of  the  deep  wells  west  of  the  valley 
and  the  wells  which  yield  salt  water  in  the  valley.  They  are  obtained  at 
depths  of  even  less  than  forty  feet  and  from  this  up  to  250  feet.  Some- 
times within  a  distance  of  only  a  few  rods  flowing  wells  are  obtained 
at  depths  varying  greatly,  and  the  water  in  the  wells  of  this  class  is  gen- 


FIG.  79.     Section  showing  Water  Supply  of  Fresh  Artesian  Wells.     After  Upham. 


erally  fresh.  These  three  facts  distinguish  this  class  of  wells  from 
we  have  been  studying:  they  are  not  as  deep  as  those  just  described;, 
they  vary  much  in  depth  within  short  distances,  and  the  water  cdtftains 
generally  very  little  of  any  kind  of  salt. 

These  wells  do  not  derive  their  water  supply  from  the  Dakota  Sand- 


THE    WATER   SUPPLY. 


187 


stone,  but  from  layers  of  sand  or  gravel  in  the  drift.  The  mantle  of 
drift,  as  we  have  seen,  covers  the  underlying  rocks  over  most  of  the 
State  like  a  great  blanket,  but  much  thicker  or  deeper  in  some  places 
than  in  others.  Upon  a  large  part  of  the  Red  River  Valley  it  is  300  or 
more  feet  deep,  while  on  the  higher  lands  outside  the  valley  it  is  often 
not  more  than  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  deep.  We  have  seen  before 
that  the  drift  is  made  up  of  a  variety  of  materials — boulders,  gravel, 
sand  and  clay.  Wherever  the  surface  is  sandy  the  rainwater  soaks  in 
readily.  If  sandy  and  gravelly  layers  extend  for  long  distances  beneath 
the  surface  then  water  soaking  into  these  loose  beds  may  follow  along 
them  for  long  distances.  Thus  it  happens  that  water  which  falls  upon 
the  sandy  hills  and  rolling  prairies  may  be  carried  along  belts  of  gravel 


too 


FIG.  80.    Diagram  indicating  the  probable  Relationship  of  Sources  of  Artesian  Water  at  Grandin. 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

and  sand  to  lower  levels  in  the  Red  River  Valley.  Beds  of  gravel  and 
sand  serve  as  underground  water  courses  much  like  stream  beds  on  the 
surface. 

In  Figure  80  four  artesian  wells  located  at  Grandin,  Cass  County, 
are  represented  which  have  depths  of  105  feet,  158  feet,  187  feet  and 
248  feet.  These  wells  are  only  a  few  rods  apart,  and  the  water  from 
them  is  fresh,  containing  but  little  of  any  kind  of  salt.  It  is  good  for 
drinking  or  for  any  purpose.  The  water  of  these  wells,  as  of  many 
other  shallow  artesian  wells  in  the  Red  River  Valley,  has  probably 
come  from  the  higher  land  west  of  the  valley  not  so  very  far  away 
where  the  soil  is  sandy  or  gravelly,  and  it  has  followed  the  loose  layers 
of  sand  and  gravel  which  extend  between  beds  of  clay,  down  to  the 


188  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

lower  valley,  and  thus  a  head  is  given  which  causes  the  flow  when  these 
"veins"  are  tapped  by  the  drill.  These  veins  are  probably  long,  nar- 
row beds  of  gravel  or  sand,  but  in  some  parts  of  the  valley  wells  are 
obtained  at  about  the  same  depths,  showing  that  the  beds  are  in  some 
places  not  long,  narrow  strips  of  gravel  or  sand,  but  wide  sheets.  Such 
shallow  artesian  wells  yielding  plenty  of  good  water  are  found  over  a 
large  part  of  the  southern  and  eastern  part  of  the  Red  River  Valley 
south  of  Blanchard,  and  north  to  Crookston  in  Minnesota. 

The  waters  are  fresh  because  they  have  not  passed  through  salty 
rock  layers  for  any  great  distance.  Waters  which  flow  underground  for 
long  distances  and  through  different  kinds  of  rocks  which  contain  salts 
are  salty  or  alkaline  because  there  are  many  salts  and  alkaline  sub- 
stances in  the  Cretaceous  formations,  and  the  waters  in  passing 
through  these  slowly  dissolve  the  mineral  substances  from  them. 

Common  Wells.— On  the  whole,  North  Dakota  has  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  good,  wholesome  water.  Almost  anywhere  west  of  the  Red 
River  Valley,  which  means  nearly  the  whole  State  west  of  the  eastern 
tier  of  counties,  the  supply  of  water  from  surface  wells  is  abundant' and 
of  good  quality.  The  mantle  of  drift  over  the  underlying  shales  is  not 
so  deep  but  that  it  is  an  easy  rnatter  to  dig  or  drill  through  it,  and 
plenty  of  water  is  generally  obtained  as  soon  as  the  overlying  drift  is 
passed  through  at  depths  of  fifteen  to  seventy-five  feet.  The  writer 
thought  on  a  hot  afternoon  that  he  had  never  tasted  better  water  than 
the  clear,  sparkling  liquid  which  he  drew  from  an  old-fashioned  chain 
pump  at  a  rancher's  cottage  in  the  hill  country  south  of  Dog  Den  Butte 
in  McLean  County,  and  many  such  wells  dot  the  prairies  in  the  great 
interior  portion  of  the  State. 


CHAPTER   THE   TWENTIETH. 
SOILS  AND   RESOURCES  OF  NORTH   DAKOTA. 

Geology  a  Practical  Science. — The  geological  features  of  any  region 
of  country  have  much  to  do  with  the  industries  of  that  region,  and 
determine  in  large  measure  the  value  of  the  lands.  A  farmer  may  or 
may  not  understand  the  geology  of  his  farm,  but  if  he  is  a  successful 
farmer  he  is  controlled  very  largely  in  his  methods  of  farming  by  those 
agricultural  principles  which  have  their  explanation  in  geology.  A 
farmer  knows  in  a  very  practical  way  that  certain  crops  do  well  upon 
certain  soils,  that  others  cannot  be  raised  to  advantage  upon  those 
soils.  Oftentimes  this  knowledge  is  painfully  practical,  because  he  has 
learned  it  at  the  expense  of  much  toil  and  labor.  The  best  knowledge 
in  the  world  is  often  gained  by  experience,  that  is,  by  experiment.  It 
is  because  of  this  that  experimental  stations  or  laboratories  have  been 
established  for  the  study  of  soils,  and  experiment  in  the  best  methods 
of  cultivation  of  crops,  looking  toward  a  better  knowledge  of  the  natu- 
ral resources  of  the  land.  The  laboratory  of  the  landscape  geologist  is 
the  field.  The  farmer  has  to  do  with  soils,  rain  and  sunshine,  and  hence 
his  laboratory  is  also  the  field.  He  must  be  a  geologist.  He  may  not 
know  it;  he  may  not  believe  in  "science;"  he  may  know  nothing  of 
geology  as  such,  but  he  is  a  practical  geologist,  nevertheless.  In 
buying  a  farm  the  geology  of  that  farm  is  of  much  interest,  not  for  the 
sake  of  the  geology,  but  because  this  determines  for  all  time  certain 
points  of  value  about  the  farm.  A  landscape  is  a  more  complex  thing 
than  is  often  thought,  and  more  things  enter  into  its  character  and  so 
into  the  quality  of  the  fields  determining  their  use  and  value  than  is  by 
many  supposed. 

The  Character  of  the  Lands. — That  there  is  a  large  variety  of  types  of 
landscape  and  a  great  diversity  of  soils  in  North  Dakota  is  apparent 
from  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  pages.  The  diversity  in  kinds 
of  soil  as  well  as  in  forms  of  landscape  adapts  the  State  to  a  diversity  of 
farming  interests.  Few  states  offer  a  greater  range  of  opportunities 


190 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 


for  agricultural  pursuits  than  does  North  Dakota.  The  richest  wheat 
lands  in  the  world,  the  most  profitable  flax  and  oat  fields,  ranges  for 
grazing  herds  of  horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  of  immense  epctent,  vast  areas 
of  meadow,  fuel  in  inexhaustible  supply,  clays  suitable  for  brick  for 
building  purposes  unlimited  in  extent,  make  any  forecast  except  that 
of  permanent  prosperity,  under  the  judicious  management  of  an  intelli- 
gent population,  seem  absurd. 

Let  us  briefly  pass  in  review  some  of  the  things  worth  remember- 
ing about  the  landscape  of  North  Dakota. 

The  landscape  o\ves  its  present  form  in  a  large  measure  to  the  fact 
that  the  Great  Ice-Sheet  spread  over  the  State  and  leveled  down  the 


FIG.  81.     In  the  East  the  Farm  is  cut  up  into  Fields  containing  Acres! 
Photograph  by  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Co. 

hills  and  filled  the  valleys,  and  left  the  surface  in  the  form  of  level, 
undulating,  or  rolling  prairies.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  is  due  in  large 
part  to  the  grinding  and  pulverizing  of  the  rocks  by  the  Great  Ice- 
Sheet,  forming  the  finest  of  rock-flour.  No  long,  high,  sweeping  hill- 
sides such  as  are  common  in  the  Eastern  States,  formed  by  the  wearing 
of  streams  during  long  ages,  greet  the  eye  in  North  Dakota.  No 
long  stretches  of  clayey  hard-pan  hillsides  off  from  which  the  fertile 
soil  is  annually  washed  into  the  rivers,  enter  into  the  farm  scenes  in 
this  Northwest  land.  The  land  is  mostly  free  from  stones  in  the  fields 
because  the  rocks  which  were  ploughed  up  by  the  Great  Ice-Sheet 
were  mostly  soft  rocks  which  were  easily  pulverized  into  fine  rock- 


SOILS  AND   RESOURCES   OF  NORTH   DAKOTA. 


191 


powder  and  soil.  It  is  estimated  that  not  more  than  one-twentieth  as 
many  boulders  strew  the  fields  in  North  Dakota  as  in  the  Eastern 
States  which  were  passed  over  by  the  Great  Ice-Sheet.  The  soil  is 
good  in  North  Dakota  because  the  old  sea-bottom  sediments  of  the 
Cretaceous  formations  contained  those  mineral  "salts"  which  are 
needed  for  the  growth  of  wheat,  flax  and  oats,  and  other  cereal  grains. 
The  same  "alkali"  which  sometimes  renders  the  water  not  good  for 
drinking,  when  present  in  small  quantities  distributed  through  the 


FIG.  82.     In  North  Dakota  it  is  One  Big  Field  containing  Sections! 
Plwtograpk  by  McCormick  Harvesting  Machine  Co. 

rocks,  helps  to  make  the  great  fertility  of  the  soil.  The  limestone 
which  is  the  surface  rock  in  portions  of  the  Canadian  Provinces  lying 
to  the  north,  and  off  from  which  the  great  ice-plow  broke  vast  quanti- 
ties, which  was  carried  over  into  this  State  and  the  sister  state  of  Min- 
nesota, when  ground  into  rock-powder  forms  the  most  fertile  wheat 
soil  in  the  world.  From  the  circumstance  of  great  bodies  of  water 
standing  upon  portions  of  the  State  in  glacial  lakes  of  large  extent, 
which  have  now  disappeared  and  their  bottoms  become  dry  land,  there 
is  spread  out  the  most  nearly  level  and  among  the  most  productive 
large  areas  of  land  in  the  world.  These  lands  are  level  because  the 
waves  and  currents  of  the  lake  waters  distributed  the  earth  materials 
evenly  over  their  bottoms.  They  are  the  richest  lands  known  because 
the  finest  of  rock-powder  was  carried  by  the  waves  and  currents  and 
distributed  in  layers  over  their  bottoms,  and  the  gathering  of  vegetable 
remains  upon  the  bottoms  of  these  lakes  added  the  black  matter  which 
gives  the  final  touch  of  fertility  to  the  soil  and  makes  it  the  strongest 
crop-producing  soil  known.  These  lake  bottom  lands  are  not  confined 
to  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State  known  as  the  Red  River  Valley,  but 
the  Mouse  River  Valley,  embracing  more  than  one-third  of  a  million 
acres  of  land  within  the  State  of  North  Dakota,  and  the  area  covered 
by  Lake  Sargent,  embracing  most  of  Sargent  County  and  a  portion 


192  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

of  Ransom  County,  and  Lake  Dakota,  covering  a  portion  of  Dickey 
County,  are  like  the  Red  River  Valley  in  their  geological  character, 
viz.,  old  lake  bottoms.  The  even  character  of  the  bottoms  of  these 
lakes  leaves  almost  the  entire  area  suitable  for  cultivation  in  crop  rais- 
ing and  meadow.  Less  "waste  land"  exists  in  these  portions  of  North 
Dakota  than  in  almost  any  equal  areas  in  any  of  the  Northern  States, 
being  estimated  over  large  areas  not  to  exceed  one-fiftieth  of  the  whole. 

Mineral  Resources. — The  geologic  situation  of  the  State  makes  pos- 
sible the  obtaining  of  abundant  flows  of  artesian  water  over  most  of 
the  entire  eastern  half  if  not,  indeed,  over  the  whole  State,  and  in  all 
parts  of  the  State  water  is  obtained  in  unlimited  supply  from  common 
wells  at  moderate  depths. 

An  inexhaustible  supply  of  coal  underlies  the  surface  of  the  western 
half  of  the  State,  making  abundant  and  cheap  fuel  within  reach  of  all 
citizens  of  the  State.  Railroads  traverse  the  State  so  that  a  never-ceas- 
ing fuel  supply  is  available  at  small  cost  to  the  eastern  half  of  the  State 
from  the  vast  coal  fields  in  the  western  half. 

•  Clays  suitable  for  the  finest  quality  of  building  brick,  and  for  fire- 
brick and  tile  purposes,  and  also  for  the  finer  processes  of  cement  and 
pottery  manufacture,  lie  but  a  little  beneath  the  surface,  and  within 
easy  reach  of  fuel  for  the  manufacturing  processes. 

Natural  forests  of  growing  timber  abound  along  nearly  all  the 
stream  courses,  and  experience  has  demonstrated  that  groves  of  any 
extent  desired  may  be  grown  by  suitable  cultivation  upon  prairie  lands 
remote  from  the  larger  streams. 

The  Stockman's  Paradise. — Stock  raising  finds  a  paradise  in  the  vast 
pastures  of  natural  prairie  grass,  and  hay  in  almost  unlimited  quantity 
can  be  cut,  'during  dry  seasons  on  the  bottoms  of  the  sloughs  and 
marsh-lands,  and  in  wet  seasons  on  the  higher  lands,  which  yield  more 
grass  by  far  than  there  is  stock  of  any  kind  to  eat  during  the  grazing 
season.  The  coulees  or  deep  valleys  in  the  western  portion  of  the  State 
furnish  protection  to  animals  from  the  storms  of  winter  so  that  the 
expense  for  the  construction  of  stables  for  horses  and  cattle,  which 
attends  stock  farming  in  the  East,  is  largely  saved  to  the  ranchman 
farmer  in  North  Dakota. 

That  the  occurrence  of  storms  and  severe  weather  will  bear  favor- 
able comparison  with  other  Northern  States  farther  east  is  shown  by 
the  statistics  of  the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau  extending  over  the  decades 
since  accurate  records  have  been  kept  in  the  Northwest. 


SOILS  AND   RESOURCES   OF   NORTH   DAKOTA. 


193* 


194  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

The  Question  of  Rainfall.— That  the  rainfall  in  North  Dakota  is  suffi- 
cient in  amount  and  distributed  over  the  growing  months  of  the  year 
so  as  generally  under  good  cultivation  to  produce  reasonably  sure  re- 
turns in  bountiful  harvests  is  shown  by  the  records  of  annual  and 
monthly  rainfall  for  many  years  past. 

The  question  of  rainfall  is  an  important  one  in  any  agricultural  dis- 
trict. To  all  appearances  North  Dakota  has  almost  unlimited  resources 
in  the  matter  of  fertility  of  soil.  Records  of  the  amount  of  rainfall  have 
been  kept  for  many  years.  A  study  of  the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau  rec- 
ords will  show  that  failure  in  farming,  if  failure  there  be,  is  due  more 
largely  to  careless  or  unscientific  farming  than  to  either  quality  of  soil 
or  amount  of  rainfall.  If  any  one  has  labored  under  the  impression 
that  the  Northwest  is  subject  to  drought  and  hence  is  not  adapted  to 
profitable  farming,  a  study  of  the  climatic  records  will  tend  to  dispel 
that  idea.  The  idea  has  gained  acceptance  that  these  lands  have  good 
soil  but  that  the  rainfall  is  insufficient.  Statistical  figures  compiled 
from  official  sources  tell  their  own  story  of  the  amount  of  rainfall,  and 
largely  outweigh  the  notion  that  the  rainfall  is  scant. 

Thirty  years  ago  a  vast  region  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
embracing  what  are  now  portions  of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  South  and 
North  Dakota  and  Minnesota — and  some  of  the  best  parts  of  those  now 
great  and  wealthy  states — was  considered  a  great  arid  waste  unfit  for 
cultivation  and  not  capable  of  supporting  an  agricultural  population. 
In  fact,  many  citizens  of  those  states  whose  heads  have  silvered  a  little 
as  they  approach  the  latter  half  of  life,  remember  when  they  studied 
about  the  "Great  American  Desert"  in  the  geography  lessons  in  the 
little  schoolhouse  on  a  clay  hillside  in  the  East,  and  were  taught  that 
it  was  a  great  arid  waste — a  vast  wild  and  irreclaimable  buffalo  range, 
best  adapted  to  gophers,  badgers,  wolves,  wild  horses  arid  red  men ! 

It  is  said  that  Horace  Greeley,  while  traveling  across  the  barren 
desert  plains  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  said  to  a  friend,  with  char- 
acteristic dry  humor,  that  "all  that  that  country  needed  to  make  it  a 
desirable  place  to  live  was  good  people  and  plenty  of  water."  "Yes," 
remarked  his  facetious  friend,  "all  that  hell  needs  to  make  it  a  desirable 
place  to  live  in  is  the  same  two  things!" 

Western  North  Dakota  has  been  thought  of  by  those  who  know  the 
West  only  through  fanciful  tales  as  needing  good  people  and  plenty 
of  water.  That  the  State  has  room  for  more  good  people,  thrifty,  in- 
dustrious people,  and  that  there  is  a  large  amount  of  land  waiting  for 


SOILS  AND   RESOURCES   OF  NORTH   DAKOTA.  195" 

settlers,  none  will  deny,  but  the  water  it  seems  to  have.  The  geology 
of  the  region  shows  that  the  character  of  the  soil  is  such  as  to  be 
capable  of  a  high  degree  of  productiveness,  and  the  records  bear  out 
the  statement  that  the  rainfall  is  sufficient  under  proper  cultivation 
and  with  intelligent  attention  to  scientific  farming,  with  stock  raising 
and  crop  rotation,  to  insure  large  harvests  and  profitable  returns  from 
general  farming. 

The  Days  of  the  "Great  American  Desert"  No  More — So  far  as  the  great 
Northwest  is  concerned  there  is  no  more  "Great  American  Desert." 
The  phrase  has  given  place  in  modern  geography  to  "The  Bread  Bas- 
ket of  the  World."  It  is  beyond  our  purpose  to  traverse  the  history  of 
the  development  of  the  great  Northwest,  but  the  writer  wishes  herein 
to  record  his  modest  prediction  that  before  another  thirty  years  shall 
have  rolled  around  the  vast  domain  known  as  Western  North  Dakota 
will  be  occupied  by  bona  fide  settlers,  will  be  owned  and  occupied  by 
somebody,  railways  and  highways  wrill  intersect  it,  schoolhouses  and 
churches — always  an  accompaniment  and  mark  of  American  civiliza- 
tion— will  stand  in  different  parts  of  all  the  counties;  where  are  now 
small  towns  will  be  larger  towns;  what  are  now  prairie  postofrkes  at  the 
intersections  of  trails  will  have  grown  to  be  agricultural  and  shipping 
centers.  When  this  region  becomes  settled  w-ith  an  industrious  and 
intelligent  people  who  shall  take  advantage  of  the  conditions  as  they 
are  and  adapt  the  mode  of  cultivation  to  the  character  of  the  lands,  this 
will  become  a  great  and  prosperous  part  of  a  vast  commonwealth.  Di- 
versified farming  will  be  made  successful.  These  lands  are  capable  of 
sustaining  a  great  population.  A  great  population  will  occupy  them. 
Here  will  be  the  homes  of  successful  and  well-to-do  farmers,  as  is  now 
the  case  in  the  greater  portion  of  those  states  which  were  once  con- 
sidered to  be  irreclaimable  desert  wastes. 


CHAPTER  THE  TWENTY-FIRST. 
GEOLOGY  FROM  A  CAR  WINDOW. 

Prefatory  Note. — The  pleasure  and  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from 
travel  are  not  always  measured  by  the  cost  of  the  journey,  the  distance 
traveled,  or  the  great  cities  passed  through.  A  journey  of  a  hundred 
miles  may  afford  more  real  pleasure  to  the  lover  of  nature  than  a 
thousand  miles  of  travel  to  one  who  simply  endures  the  time  till  he 
arrives  at  the  end  of  his  journey.  There  are  people  to  whom  a  tour 
across  the  continent  is  a  matter  to  be  wished  soon  over  because  there 
is  nothing  to  do  but  to  ride  and  ride  and  wait  for  the  miles  to  roll  by. 
There  are  others  to  whom  every  mile  reveals  something  new,  to  whom 
the  changing  view  is  a  continuous  panorama  of  delight  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  journey  to  the  end  of  it. 

One  who  cannot  enjoy  pictures  and  statuary  does  not  care  to  visit 
the  art  gallery.  To  one  who  does  not  enjoy  the  beautiful  in  architec- 
ture and  mural  decoration  a  cathedral  is  a  no  more  fitting  place  to  wor- 
ship than  a  hay-barn.  To  one  who  does  not  enjoy  the  beauty  of  the 
landscape,  or  who  does  not  know  the  meaning  of  landscape  gardening, 
who  does  not  recognize  nature's  handiwork  in  the  fashioning  of  land- 
scapes, does  not  derive  the  fullest  value  he  pays  for  when  he  buys  a 
railroad  ticket. 

Just  as  a  guide-book  is  an  indispensable  requisite  to  the  tourist 
abroad,  so  it  is  thought  a  word  about  what  may  be  seen  by  the  way, 
a  description  made  from  the  car  window,  will  help  to  make  more  real 
what  has  been  known  in  a  general  way  before.  Just  as  a  catalogue 
of  the  pictures  and  statuary  in  the  art  gallery  is  helpful  to  the  visitor, 
so  the  traveler  on  a  business  trip  or  the  tourist  in  search  of  health  or 
pleasure  may  get  more  from  his  journey  if  he  has  pointed  out  to  him 
some  of  the  simpler  things  of  the  landscape,  so  that  there  is  added 


GEOLOGY   FROM   A   CAR   WINDOW.  197 

meaning  in  the  hills  and  valleys,  the  forests  and  prairies,  the  sand- 
plains  and  lakes,  a  meaning  which  includes  much  more  than  merely 
seeing  the  things. 

The  notes  which  follow  have  been  gathered  from  observations  ac- 
tually made  from  the  car  window,  the  rear  platform,  the  cupola  of  the 
"caboose,"  or  the  top  of  a  box  car.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  "geol- 
ogizing" which  made  the  notes  possible  was  all  done  from  the  moving 
train.  Many  days  of  field  work  have  been  necessary  to  make  it  possible 
to  interpret  what  could  be  seen  from  the  passing  train.  But  to  make 
the  notes  valuable  for  their  purpose,  and  that  they  should  not  include 
what  could  not  be  actually  seen  by  the  passing  traveler,  the  author  has 
journeyed  over  all  the  lines  of  railroad  here  described  and  made  the 
notes  from  first  hand  observation:  It  is  hoped  that  the  reader  will  find 
these  observations  helpful  as  furnishing  particular  illustrations  of  what 
has  been  said  in  the  text.  The  notes  are  intended  not  only  for  the 
tourist  and  the  traveling  citizen  who  may  be  interested  in  knowing 
what  he  sees  at  the  time  when  he  sees  it,  but  it  is  hoped  that  they  may 
serve  to  give  local  touch  and  color  to  the  descriptions  in  the  body  of 
the  preceding  pages.  As  teachers  and  all  other  persons  who  may  read 
these  pages  travel  more  or  less  it  is  hoped  that  such  notes  may  have 
a  value  in  pointing  out  local  examples  of  landscape  features  and  that 
the  teacher  will  find  some  assistance  in  local  geography  lessons  in  the 
facts  which  are  here  compiled. 

The  figures  following  the  names  of  stations  indicate  the  number  of 
miles  from  the  point  where  the  Red  River  is  crossed  by  the  particular 
line  of  railroad.  The  figfures  in  parenthesis  indicate  the  number  of 
miles  east  from  the  point  where  the  line  leaves  the  State,  unless  other- 
wise specified.  The  figures  representing  feet  show  the  altitude  of  each 
station  above  sea-level.  All  the  figures  representing  distances  and  alti- 
tudes are  taken  from  the  official  surveys  of  the  several  railroads.  The 
population  of  all  incorporated  cities,  towns  and  villages,  census  of 
1900,  is  also  given.  County  seats  are  distinguished  by  black  faced  type, 
and  the  station  which  is  nearest  to  the  boundary  line  of  any  county 
traversed  by  the  particular  road  is  indicated. 


198  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

THE    GREAT    NORTHERN    LINES. 

Grand  Forks — (Grand  Forks  County.)  Distance  from  St.  Paul 
(via  Crookston),  324.1  miles;  distance  east  of  Montana  line,  350  miles. 
Altitude,  835  feet.  Population,  7,652. 

Grand  Forks,  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  is  surrounded  by  the 
leyel  black  plain  of  the  axis  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz.  The  prairie 
from  here  to  the  International  Boundary,  eighty  miles  north,  falls  only 
a  little  more  than  seven  inches  to  the  mile.  At  the  time  of  the  highest 
stage  of  Lake  Agassiz,  i.  e.,  when  the  highest  Herman  Beach  was  being 
formed,  the  water  was  probably  more  than  300  feet  deep  where  the  city 
now  stands. 

OJATA. — Distance  from  Grand  Forks,  n.i  miles.  (Distance  east 
of  the  Montana  line,  338.9  miles.)  Altitude,  864  feet. 

Level  prairie,  with  alkaline  marshes.  Two  miles  west  the  prairie 
becomes  broken  into  irregular  hummocks  six  to  eight  feet  high.  These 
mark  the  place  of  the  lower  Ojata  Beach.  The  shore  sand  has  been  piled 
by  the  wind  into  small  dunes.  A  little  farther  west  the  upper  Ojata 
Beach  rises  about  twenty  feet,  sloping  at  first,  then  rising  quite  suddenly. 

EMERADO. — 15.6  miles.  (334.4  miles.)  Altitude,  910  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 236. 

The  Emerado  Beach  is  crossed  one-fourth  mile  east,  about  ten  feet 
high.  Hillsboro  Beach,  two  miles  west,  just  after  crossing  Hazen  Creek. 
The  east  side  of  the  beach  rises  as  a  beautiful  slope,  falling  again  a  little 
west  of  its  crest. 

ARVILLA. — 21.0  miles.  (329.0  miles.)  Altitude,  1,022  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 199. 

The  front  of  the  Elk  Valley  Delta  rises  distinctly  to  view,  from  south 
window  of  car.  Within  a  mile  east  of  Arvilla  two  conspicuous  beaches 
are  crossed,  the  McCauleyville  and  the  Campbell,  lying  near  together. 
The  railroad  makes  a  deep  cut  in  crossing  these.  A  gravel  pit  has  been 
opened  north  of  the  track  from  which  beach  sand  and  gravel  are  taken. 
The  McCauleyville  Beach  rises  eighteen  feet,  falling  a  little  west  of  its 
crest,  then  the  Campbell  Beach  rises  twenty-five  feet,  falling  about  one- 
third  of  this  west  of  its  crest,  to  the  level  prairie.  A  fine  view  of  the 
delta  front  is  afforded  from  the  south  window,  and  the  deep  valley  of  the 
Turtle  River  from  the  north  window. 

The  Tintah  Beach  is  crossed  two  miles  west,  where  it  runs  along  the 
delta  front.  The  railroad  here  ascends  upon  the  delta-plain  by  a  heavy 


THE  GREAT  NORTHERN  1  INES.  199 

grade.  Farther  west,  long,  low  hills  represent  the  Norcross  Shore-Line, 
the  beach  sand  having  been  piled  into  low  dunes  by  the  wind. 

LARIMORE. — 27.7  miles.  (322.3  miles.)  Altitude,  1,138  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 1,235. 

Larimore  stands  upon  the  crest  of  the  Elk  Valley-  Delta,  the  plain  of 
which  is  here  about  eight  miles  wide.  The  highest  Herman  Beach  is 
four  miles  west,  skirting  the  highland.  Two  lower  Herman  Beaches 
pass  near  the  city,  skirting  its  eastern  suburbs.  North  of  the  city  these 
beaches  are  crossed  by  the  Turtle  River,  beyond  which  they  rise  as  a  long, 
low  hill. 

Traveling  westward  it  will  be  noticed  that  a  broad,  level  plain  ex- 
tends to  the  north.  This  is  the  mouth  of  the  Elk  Valley,  and  was  the 
bed  of  the  great  glacial  Elk  River,  which  formed  the  delta  in  Lake  Agas- 
siz.  On  the  western  side  of  this  valley  is  the  Herman  Beach,  marking 
the  highest  shore  of  Lake  Agassiz.  An  extensive  gravel  pit  has  been 
opened  in  this  beach  near  the  railroad.  As  the  ascent  is  made  up  the 
face  of  the  highland  to  the  west  a  fine  view  is  afforded  of  the  mouth  of 
Elk  Valley,  "The  Ridge,"  which  forms  its  eastern  side,  north  of  Mc- 
Canna,  and  the  Norcross  Shore-Line  south  of  the  Ridge.  A  ride  on 
the  rear  platform  is  here  worth  while,  for  a  few  miles. 

NIAGARA. — 41.7  miles.     (308.3  miles.)     Altitude,  1,444  feet. 

In  a  distance  of  eight  miles  an  ascent  of  more  than  300  feet  is  made, 
to  Niagara.  This  is  the  Manitoba  Escarpment,  the  southern  continua- 
tion of  the  Pembina  Mountain  Highland.  Rounded,  irregular  hills,  very 
different  from  anything  which  has  been  seen  in  the  Red  River  Valley, 
occur  on  both  sides  of  the  track.  These  are  morainic  hills,  and  belong 
to  the  Ninth,  or  Leaf  Hills,  Moraine.  Many  granite  boulders  are  no- 
ticed, and  sloughs  and  ponds  such  as  are  common  among  the  hills  of  a 
terminal  moraine,  are  frequent. 

PETERSBURG. — (Nelson  County),  47.9  miles.  (302.1  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,527  feet.  Population,  182. 

MICHIGAN  CITY. — 53.7  miles.  (296.3  miles.)  Altitude,  1,523  feet. 
Population,  309. 

In  the  distance  north  the  higher  knobs  of  the  Itasca  (Tenth)  Moraine 
can  be  seen.  Many  small  lakes  and  grassy  sloughs  dot  the  prairie, — 
glacial  "pans"  which  show  the  undrained  character  of  the  landscape.  A 
belt  of  high  rounded  knobs  is  crossed  a  little  west  of  Michigan. 

MAPES. — 58.4  miles.     (291.6  miles.)     Altitude,  1,531  feet. 

One  of  the  principal  ranges  of  the  Itasca  Moraine  lies  north  one 


200  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

mile.  Same  seen  in  distance  north  of  Michigan  City.  Crosses  line  of 
railroad  near  Lakota,  and  continues  to  the  Odessa  Narrows  of  Devils 
Lake. 

Lakota — 64.0  miles.  (286.0  miles.)  Altitude,  1,520  feet.  Popula- 
tion, 576. 

The  Itasca  Moraine  is  about  a  mile  wide  where  crossed  by  the  rail- 
road, just  west  of  Lakota.  It  is  a  fine  example  of  a  morainic  "range." 
It  is  followed  by  undulating  prairie  again  farther  west.  Before  reach- 
ing Bartlett  another  range  of  low  hills  of  this  moraine  is  crossed. 

BARTLETT. —  (Ramsey  County),  68.0  miles.  (282.0  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,536  feet. 

Many  small  shallow  lakes  dot  the  prairies  between  the  moraines.  In 
summer  these  are  often  "dry"  lakes,  with  sheets  of  white  alkaline  salts 
covering  their  bottoms.  The  rounded  knobs  of  another  large  range  of 
the  Itasca  Moraine  can  be  seen  in  the  distance  north.  A  branch  connect- 
ing the  moraine  north  with  the  one  which  was  crossed  at  Lakota,  lies  in 
north  and  south  direction  across  the  line  of  the  railroad  east  of  Sidney 
station.  West  of  Sidney  is  another  similar  range. 

CRARY. — 77.9  miles.  (272.1  miles.)  Altitude,  1,490  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 284. 

East  of  Crary  a  finely  developed  range,  another  branch  connecting 
the  two  principal  moraines  mentioned.  West  of  Crary  a  few  miles  is 
another  range,  with  fine  rounded  hills,  and  little  basins  filled  with  water. 
These  hills  and  hollows  continue  west  of  Keith  station.  The  hills  and 
hollows  have  the  appearance  of  having  been  formed  by  the  dumping  of 
giant  loads  of  earth  from  gigantic  wheelbarrows !  This  is  a  good  exam- 
ple of  a  terminal,  or  "dump,"  moraine. 

Devils  Lake — 88.5  miles.  (261.5  miles.)  Altitude,  1,468  feet. 
Population,  1,729. 

Along  the  line  for  fifteen  miles  approaching  the  city  the  .high  hills 
south  of  Devils  Lake  can  be  seen  against  the  sky.  Devils  Heart,  the 
highest  of  all,  holds  its  summit"  175  feet  above  its  base,  and  290  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  water  of  the  lake.  Eight  miles  west,  and  about 
nine  miles  south  of  the  city,  is  Sully's  Hill,  rising  275  feet  above  the 
ilake.  Fine  groves  of  oak,  elm,  linden,  and  cottonwood  grow  on  the 
bluffs  about  the  lake.  In  one  of  these  groves,  on  a  morainic  swell  on  the 
north  shore  of  the  lake,  the  North  Dakota  Chautauqua  grounds  are 
located,  one  of  the  prettiest  places  in  the  State. 

The  City  of  Devils  Lake  stands  upon  the  low  hills  of  a  moraine,  one 


THE  GREAT  NORTHERN   LINES.  201 

of  the  branches  of  the  Itasca  Moraine.  The  hills  of  one  of  the  principal 
ranges  of  this  moraine  are  seen  about  two  miles  north  of  the  city. 

GRAND  HARBOR. — 95.8  miles.     (254.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,460  feet. 

The  large  morainic  range  seen  north  of  Devils  Lake  is  crossed  at 
Grand  Harbor,  the  town  being  built  upon  the  rounded  knobs  of  this  mo- 
raine. The  railroad  crosses  another  branch  half  way  between  Devils 
Lake  and  Grand  Harbor.  The  bluffs  which  indent  the  lake,  and  which 
are  generally  tree-covered,  are  the  ends  of  these  smaller  moraines  which 
are  too  high  to  be  covered  by  the  waters  of  the  lake. 

PEXX. — 101.7  miles.     (248.3  miles.)     Altitude,  1,473  ^eet- 

Gently  undulating  prairie,  enclosed  in  a  wide  loop  of  the  moraine 
which  was  crossed  at  Grand  Harbor,  the  western  side  of  the  loop  being 
crossed  two  miles  west  of  Churches  Ferry. 

CHURCHES  FERRY. — 107.4  miles.  (242.6  miles.)  Altitude,  1,464 
feet.  Population,  264. 

Splendid  level  prairie,  among  the  finest  in  the  State  and  the  northwest. 
The  Mauvaise  Coulee  (meaning  "Bad  Valley")  is  an  old  glacial  drainage 
way  which  now  connects  the  lakes  to  the  north  with  Devils  Lake  in  time 
of  high  water.  This  was  the  outlet  stream  of  Glacial  Lake  Souris  when 
that  lake  drained  into  Devils  Lake  and  the  Sheyenne  River. 


ST.    JOHN    BRANCH. 

Cando. —  (Towner  County),  15.4  miles  north  of  Churches  Ferry. 
(43.5  miles  south  of  International  Boundary.)  Altitude,  1,488  feet. 
Population,  1,061. 

Cando  is  located  on  the  broad  and  fertile  prairie  which  extends  from 
the  loop  in  the  range  of  hills  south  of  Grand  Harbor  and  Churches  Ferry 
north  and  west  to  the  Turtle  Mountains.  About  eight  miles  north  and 
east  lies  one  of  the  ranges  of  the  Itasca  Moraine,  about  five  miles  in 
width,  which  extends  northwest  across  the  Turtle  Mountains,  and  south- 
east nearly  to  Lakota,  thence  northeast  along  the  highland  west  of  Con- 
way  and  Inkster. 

Holla. — (Rolette  County),  47.4  miles.  (11.5  miles.)  Altitude 
1,823  feet.  Population,  400. 

About  six  miles  south  of  Rolla  the  railroad  crosses  the  moraine  re- 
ferred to.  About  six  miles  northwest,  the  plateau  of  the  Turtle  Moun- 
tains rises  suddenly  against  the  horizon,  having  a  height  here  of  300  to 
400  feet  above  the  prairie. 


202  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

ST.  JOHN. — 54.8  miles.  (4.0  miles.)  Altitude,  1,950  feet.  Popula- 
tion, 1 68. 

City  located  on  eastern  slope  of  the  Mountains.  Deep  coulees  inter- 
sect the  sides  of  the  plateau.  Morainic  hills,  of  the  range  crossed  ten 
to  twelve  miles  south,  three  miles  west.  Mountain  top  clad  with  forests. 
*  #  *  *  *•*  *  *  *  *  * 

LEEDS. —  (Benson  County),  119.0  miles.  (231.0  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,516  feet.  Population,  349. 

Big  Butte,  or  Mauvais  Butte,  rises  with  broad  sweeping  outlines  six 
or  seven  miles  south.  This  immense  hill  is  about  ten  miles  in  length, 
rising  1 50  to  200  feet  above  the  surrounding  prairie  at  its  eastern  end, 
and  250  to  300  feet  in  its  western  portion.  This  is  an  old  hill,  i.  c., 
it  was  a  hill  before  the  Ice  Age,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  morainic 
ridges  cross  its  surface  and  many  boulders  lie  scattered  upon  it.  It  be- 
longs in  the  class  of  hills  such  as  Devils  Heart  and  Sully's  Hill,  south  of 
Devils  Lake. 

Occasional  morainic  hills  stand  upon  the  flat  landscape  between  the 
Big  Butte  and  the  railroad.  A  well  marked,  broad  glacial  drainage 
channel  west  of  Leeds.  Only  a  small  stream  in  it  now. 

YORK. — 125.3  miles.     (224.7  miles.)     Altitude,  1,619  feet. 

The  high  western  end  of  Big  Butte  rises  in  the  southeast.  Its  sur- 
face is  seen  in  the  distance  to  be  rough,  and  marked  by  coulees  and  mo- 
rainic hills.  The  prairie  between  Leeds  and  York  is  undulating,  with  an 
occasional  round,  morainic  knob  standing  like  a  great  mound  upon  the 
generally  flat  landscape.  A  school  house  stands^  on  the  top  of  one  of 
these  knobs,  just  south  of  the  railroad.  Many  fine  hay-meadows  occur 
in  the  shallow  depressions. 

KNOX. — 131.1  miles.     (218.9  miles.)    Altitude,  1,610  feet. 

Fine  example  of  moraine  crossed  east  of  Knox.  Along  the  horizon 
in  the  west,  the  high  knobs  and  ridges  of  the  combined  Fergus  Falls 
(Eighth)  and  Leaf  Hills  (Ninth)  Moraines,  the  town  standing  upon  a 
beautiful,  gently  undulating  prairie.  A  fine  view  of  a  moraine  is 
afforded  from  the  south  window  of  the  car,  west  of  Knox.  The  higher 
rounded  hills  of  another  moraine  seen  in  the  distance  north. 

About  two  miles  west  is  the  highest  point  of  the  Great  Northern 
Railway  between  the  Red  River  of  the  North  and  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Missouri  Plateau,  1,660  feet.  This  is  the  "divide"  between  Devils 
Lake  and  the  Sheyenne  on  the  east,  and  the  Mouse  River  on  the  west.  It 
can  hardly  be  called  a  watershed,  for  the  land  in  this  region  is  undrained 


THE   GREAT   NORTHERN    LINES.  203 

by  streams.  Drainage  courses  have  not  had  time  to  become  established 
since  the  Glacial  Period. 

PLEASANT  LAKE. — 136.7  miles.  (213.3  miles.)  Altitude,  1,608 
feet. 

The  change  from  the  gently  undulating  prairie  to  the  extremely  irreg- 
ular topography  of  the  morainic  belt  which  is  here  entered,  is  very 
marked.  The  hills  are  steep  and  rugged,  and  strewn  with  boulders.  A 
typical  morainic  region.  This  belt  of  hills,  the  compound  Fergus  Falls 
and  Leaf  Hills  Moraines,  crosses  the  Indian  Reservation  south  of  Devils 
Lake,  the  two  moraines  continuing  separately  from  the  hilly  region  south 
of  Devils  Lake  across  Nelson,  Steele,  and  Barnes  Counties,  and  thence, 
after  crossing  the  Red  River  Valley,  where  they  are  recognized  only  as 
slight  undulations,  they  continue  across  Minnesota,  and  become  a  part  of 
the  great  "Kettle  Moraine"  in  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Indi-' 
ana,  and  extending  east  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  near  New  York  City. 
The  higher  hills,  which  lie  along  either  side  of  the  railroad,  rise  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  above  the  hollows  at  their  bases,  and  from  100  to 
150  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the  prairie  outside  the  moraine. 
Scores  and  hundreds  of  lakes  of  all  sizes,  from  small  ponds  up  to  lakes 
two  miles  in  diameter,  occupy  the  hollows  between  the  hills.  Which  one 
of  the  great  number  which  lie  within  a  few  miles  is  the  most  "pleasant" 
would  be  hard  to  say.  South  of  Pleasant  Lake  station  is  Broken  Bone 
Lake,  named  from  the  piles  of  broken  buffalo  bones  which  were  left  on 
its  shores  by  the  Indians,  from  the  manufacture  of  "pemmican,"  in  which 
the  marrow  of  the  bones  was  used. 

Rugby. — (Pierce  County),  145.7  miles.  (204.3  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,567  feet.  Population,  487. 

Rugby  stands  where  was  the  eastern  shore  of  Old  Lake  Souris.  The 
aspect  of  the  prairie  suddenly  changes  to  the  west.  The  rolling  and  hilly 
landscape  gives  way  to  a  broad,  gently  swelling  prairie.  The  hilly  mo- 
raines stop  abruptly  at  the  shore  of  the  old  lake.  The  hills  were  depos- 
ited upon  the  lake  bottom  just  as  they  were  beyond  its  shores,  but  they 
were  leveled  down  by  the  action  of  the  waves.  From  Rugby  to  Minot 
the  railroad  crosses  the  bottom  of  Lake  Souris  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
western  half  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz  was  crossed  from  Grand 
Forks  to  Larimore.  High  morainic  hills  are  seen  both  north  and  south 
of  Rugby.  The  region  about  the  city  was  occupied  by  a  bay  of  the  lake. 
A  long  slough  lying  north  of  the  railroad  can  be  traced  from  the  car  win- 
dow most  of  the  way  between  Pleasant  Lake  and  Rugby.  This  is  the 


204  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

old  channel  of  a  glacial  stream  which  flowed  into  Lake  Souris  from  the 
melting  ice  at  the  time  the  moraine  about  Pleasant  Lake  was  being 
formed. 


BOTTINBAU    BRANCH. 

WILLOW  CITY. — (Bottineau  County),  2.1.2  miles  from  Rugby.  (36.9 
miles  south'  of  the  International  Boundary.)  Altitude,  1,478  feet. 
Population,  476. 

The  railroad  runs  near  the  eastern  shore,  on  the  Lake  Souris  bottom. 
The  horizon  line  to  the  east  is  an  irregular  line,  marked  by  the  crests 
of  the  hills  and  ridges,  and  the  deep  intervening  hollows.  To  the  west 
the  sky  meets  the  earth  upon  an  almost  unbroken  horizontal  line,  the 
nearly  level  surface  of  the  old  lake  bottom. 

OMEMEE. — 30.4  miles.  (27.7  miles.)  Altitude,  1,545  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 320. 

East  of  Willow  City  and  Omemee  the  undulations  of  the  prairie  rise 
often  ten  feet  above. the  adjoining  hollows.  These  swells  are  the  mo- 
rainic  hills  which  were  not  entirely  leveled  down  by  the  waves  of  the  lake. 
The  high  and  rugged  hills  of  the  same  moraines  beyond  the  lake  shore 
show  how  much  the  action  of  the  waves  leveled  the  hills  which  were 
deposited  in  the  waters  of  the  lake. 

Bottineau. — 38.1  miles.  (20  miles.)  Altitude,  1,646  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 888. 

Bottineau  stands  upon  the  lake  bottom,  about  four  miles  from  where 
the  waters  washed  the  base  of  the  Turtle  Mountains.  The  Turtle  Moun- 
tain Plateau  rises  400  to  600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  prairie  at  Bot- 
tineau. The  highest  hills  on  the  top  of  the  plateau,  Butte  St.  Paul  and 
Bear  Butte,  rise  700  and  600  feet,1  respectively,  above  the  prairie  at  the 
foot  of  the  plateau,  or  Mountains.2 

SOURIS. — 52.1  miles.     (6  miles.)     Altitude  (about),  1,550  feet. 

West  of  Bottineau  is  a  group  of  morainic  hills  which  seemed  to  be 
too  large  to  be  leveled  by  the  waves  of  the  lake.  They  probably  formed 
an  island,  or  a  group  of  islands,  during  the  receding  stages  of  the  lake. 
Souris  is  on  the  nearly  level  prairie  of  the  deeper  lake  bottom. 


1  Andreas'  Atlas  of  Dakota. 

2  The  U.  S.  Boundary  Commission  gives  the  highest  point  of  the  Turtle  Mountains 
as  2,534  fget  above  sea  level. 


THE   GREAT  NORTHERN   LINES.  205 

BERWICK. — (McHenry  County),  157.4  miles.  (192.6  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,487  feet. 

West  from  Rugby  the  railroad  grade  falls  rapidly  from  the  shore  of 
the  old  lake  toward  its  center.  From  the  north  window,  or  better,  from 
the  rear  platform,  the  ends  of  the  high  moraines  can  be  distinctly  seen 
"along  the  shore,  cut  off  abruptly  by  the  waves  of  the  lake.  North,  and 
south,  of  the  railroad,  ranges  of  low,  broad  hills,  with  gracefully  curv- 
ing outlines,  are  the  continuation  of  the  moraines  south  of  Rugby,  across 
the  lake  bottom.  They  all  have  a  trend  northwest  by  west,  so  that  they 
appear  to  approach  the  railroad  from  the  south,  and  diverge  to  the  north. 
Fine  nearly  level  prairies  lie  between  these  long  ground-swells.  A  mo- 
raine of  sandy  hills  is  marked  by  dunes  farther  west. 

Towner. — 164.7  miles.  (185.3  miles.)  Altitude,  1,482  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 331. 

Towner  is  on  the  lowest  part  of  the  old  lake  bottom  crossed  by  the 
Great  Northern  Railway.  The  valley  of  the  river,  i.  c.,  the  trough  cut  by 
the  river,  is  very  small  here  compared  with  the  broad  and  deep  valley 
west  of  Minot.  Here  it  is  a  small  valley,  cut  since  the  lake  disappeared. 
At  Minot  and  westward  the  large  valley  was  eroded  by  the  great  glacial 
river  which  emptied  into  Lake  Souris. 

DENBIGH. — 173.4  miles.     (176.6  miles.)    Altitude,  1,520  feet. 

Choppy  sand  hills,  wind-drifted.  High,  ragged  dunes,  morainic  hills 
of  sand  partly  leveled  by  the  waves  of  the  lake,  and  modified  by  the  action 
of  the  wind.  Higher  hills,  grass  covered,  are  more  clayey,  and  so  not 
affected  by  the  winds.  Medicine  Lodge  Hill,  and  Buffalo  Lodge,  seen 
from  the  north  window,  are  morainic  hills  which  were  too  large  to  be 
leveled  by  the  lake.  They  were  at  one  time  islands  in  Lake  Souris. 
Tracts  of  dunes,  sparsely  covered  with  scrubby  timber,  and  alkaline  lakes, 
lie  along  the  course  of  this  moraine. 

About  a  mile  north  of  the  railroad,  west  of  Riga  station,  is  a  high 
morainic  hill,  its  crest  irregular  in  form,  grass  covered,  and  abruptly  cut 
off  at  its  eastern  end.  This  was  an  island  in  the  lake,  as  is  shown  by  the 
form  of  the  hill,  for  its  crest  has  not  been  made  smooth  by  the  waves. 
Its  eastern  end  was  washed  away  by  the  waves,  hence  the  level  plain  sur- 
rounding it. 

GRANVILLE. — 185.1  miles.     (164.9  miles.)     Altitude,   1,516  feet. 

Range  of  morainic  hills  west,  their  outlines  smoothed  and  rounded  by 
the  waves,  but  not  leveled  much.  Little  bumpy  dunes  of  sand,  the  sandy 
character  of  the  hills  being  due  to  the  ploughing  up  of  the  Fox  Hills 


206  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

Sandstone  by  the  ice-sheet,  and  ground  up  and  deposited  as  a  moraine 
in  the  lake.  Nearly  level  prairies  lie  in  the  broad  tracts  between  the  mo- 
raines. 

NORWICH. — 192.2  miles.     (157.8  miles.)     Altitude,  1,531  feet. 

Town  built  on  hills  of  moraine.  Hills  modified  in  outline  by  action 
of  lake  waters,  giving  them  a  beautifully  curved  contour.  Moraine 
crosses  railroad  from  southeast  to  northwest.  Splendid  prairie,  nearly 
level,  both  east  and  west  of  this  moraine. 

SURREY. — (Ward  County),  198.9  miles.  (151.1  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,635  feet- 
Steep  slope  of  the  western  side  of  the  valley  of  the  Mouse  River  can 
be  seen  to  the  west,  from  south  window.  Prairie  here  intersected  by 
coulees  leading  into  the  Mouse. 

Minot. — 206.3  niiles.  ( 143.7  miles.)  Altitude,  1,562  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 1,277. 

Minot  stands  at  the  western  edge,  or  shore,  of  Lake  Souris,  in  a  ba> 
formed  by  the  broad  mouth  of  the  Mouse  River,  where  that  great  glacial 
stream  emptied  its  waters,  collected  from  the  melting  ice-sheet,  into  Lake 
Souris.  The  valley  of  the  Mouse  is  here  more  than  a  mile  wide,  and  its 
banks  on  either  side  are  hills  rising  150  feet  or  more  to  the  level  of  the 
adjacent  prairie.  The  valley  is  here  many  times  larger  than  the  same 
valley  sixty  miles  farther  down  its  course  at  Towner.  Many  coulees,  or 
little  tributaries,  have  cut  into  the  valley  sides  giving  a  beautiful  combed, 
or  grooved,  appearance.  Viewed  from  the  bottom  of  the  valley  the  land- 
scape on  either  side  appears  hilly.  The  coulees  which  mark  the  banks 
are  little  notches  cut  by  the  rains  which  flow  into  the  valley  from  the 
prairie.  Some  of  these  have  worked  back  into  the  landscape  several 
miles. 

About  four  miles  west  of  Minot  is  the  junction  of  the  Mouse  and  Des 
Lacs  Rivers.  Both  these  streams  are  now  small,  but  their  valleys  are 
broad  and  deep.  They  are  glacial  valleys,  cut  when  the  waters  from  the 
melting  ice-sheet  kept  the  streams  at  high  flood.  (  See  Tenth  Chapter. ) 

DES  LACS. — 220.0  miles.      (130.0  miles.)     Altitude,  1,902  feet. 

Railroad  ascends  by  heavy  grade  to  the  high  prairie  west  of  the 
Mouse  Valley,  rising  339  feet  in  less  than  fourteen  miles.  A  fine  view 
of  the  broad  Valley  of  the  Mouse  is  afforded  from  the  north  window. 
The  view  from  the  rear  platform  will  repay  the  inconvenience.  A  deep 
coulee  is  spanned  by  a  high  iron  bridge  four  miles  west,  beyond  which 
the  grade  rises  through  many  cuts  to  the  prairie  at  Des  Lacs.  Fine  ex- 


THE   GREAT  NORTHERN   LINES.  207 

amples  of  coulees,  or  "young  valleys,"  deep  troughs  with  steep  sides, 
are  best  seen  from  south  window.  The  great  Missouri  Plateau  rises 
against  the  western  horizon  fifteen  miles  distant. 

BERTHOLD. — 229.2  miles.     (120.8  miles.)     Altitude,  2,087  ^eet- 

A  vast  evenly  sloping  prairie,  rising  quite  rapidly  toward  the  Plateau 
front,  extends  as  far'as  the  eye  can  reach,  to  the  northwest  and  southeast. 

TAGUS  (or  Wallace). — 238.8  miles.  (111.2  miles.)  Altitude,  2,187 
feet. 

Here  is  the  front  of  the  Missouri  Plateau,  or  Coteau  du  Missouri. 
The  Outer  or  Altamont  Moraine  lies  upon  the  eastern  edge  of  the  plateau. 
Rounded  hills  and  many  small  lakes  mark  the  rough  morainic  topogra- 
phy. A  small  lake  having  a  distinct  wave-worn  cliff,  and  a  shore-boul- 
der chain  at  its  foot,  lies  near  the  station. 

DELTA. — 245.4  miles.     (104.6  miles.)     Altitude,  2,263  ^eet- 

Delta  is  on  the  top  of  the  plateau,  700  feet  higher  than  Minot,  forty 
miles  east.  The  high,  steep,  and  boulder-strewn  hills  illustrate  finely  the 
landscape  of  a  terminal  moraine.  Many  small  lakes  and  sloughs  at  dif- 
ferent levels,  without  outlets. 

PALERMO. — 252.6  miles.     (97.4  miles.)     Altitude,  2,200  feet. 

Station  stands  at  western  edge  of  the  Altamont  Moraine,  which  is 
here  about  ten  miles  wide.  The  landscape  is  a  rolling  prairie  westward. 
No  more  morainic  hills  will  be  seen  farther  west,  for  here  was  the  limit 
of  the  western  movement  of  the  great  ice-sheet.  Boulders  and  glacial 
gravels  occur  as  far  as  the  Missouri  River,  "over-wash"  materials  from 
the  Outer  Moraine,  or  else  deposits  from  the  older  ice-sheet,  which  is 
often  spoken  of  as  the  "Old  Drift."1 

STANLEY. — 260.7  miles.     (89.3  miles.)     Altitude,  2,253  feet. 

The  vast  upland  prairie  of  the  Coteau  du  Missouri.  Many  alkaline 
lakes  in  shallow  basins.  Fine  grazing  lands;  hay-meadows  dotted  with 
stacks. 

\YIIITE  EARTH. — 279.9  miles.     (70.1  miles.)     Altitude,  2,092  feet.- 

1  By  "  Old  Drift"  is  meant  the  materials  left  upon  the  surface  by  an  older  ice- 
sheet,  which  belonged  to  an  earlier  epoch  of  the  Glacial  Period.  This  earlier  ice  inva- 
sion extended  farther  west  in  North  Dakota  than  did  the  great  Ice-Sheet  by  which  the 
moraines  described  in  this  book  were  formed.  The  Altamont  Moraine,  the  outermost 
of  those  formed  by  the  later  Ice-Sheet,  nowhere  occurs  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  but 
the  Older  Drift  extends  as  a  thin  mantle  to  a  distance,  as  usually  mapped,  of  40  to  60 
miles  west  of  the  river.  The  drift  may  have  extended  farther  west,  ho\wever,  and  have 
been  carried  away  by  erosion  since  the  disappearance  of  the  ice.  The  writer  has  ob- 
served what  seemed  to  be  drift  pebbles  100  miles  west  of  the  Missouri  River  at  Dickin- 
son, and  nearly  40  miles  still  farther  west,  85  miles  south  of  the  Missouri  River  at 
Williston,  on  the  tops  of  buttes  in  the  valley  of  the  Little  Missouri  River,  10  miles  south 
of  Medora,  what  appeared  to  be  drift  deposits  occurred  to  a  depth  of  8  to  12  feet, 
rounded  pebbles  of  quartzite  and  granite  up  to  5  or  6  inches  in  diameter  being  observed, 


208  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

The  Valley  of  White  Earth  Creek  has  been  cut  down  1 50  feet  into  the 
plain.  Strata  of  whitish  sandstone  and  clay  exposed  in  the  naked  sides 
of  the  valley,  hence  the  name.  Springs,  which  burst  out  of  the  hillsides 
of  this  and  similar  deep  valleys,  are  of  much  value  to  the  ranchmen. 
Protection  is  also  afforded  for  stock  during  the  winter  season  in  these 
deep  valleys.  The  only  town  between  Minot  and  Williston  is  this.  All 
the  other  stations  are  names  upon  the  map  merely. 

TIOGA. — (Williams  County),  287.9  miles.  (62.1  miles.)  Altitude, 
2,237  feet- 

The  high  prairie  again  reached,  after  traversing  the  course  of  a  side 
coulee  of  White  Earth  Creek. 

WHEELOCK. — 305.4  miles.      (44.6  miles.)     Altitude,  2,380  feet. 

Highest  point  of  the  Great  Northern  Railway  in  the  State.  The 
higher  points  on  the  prairie  rise  to  an  elevation  above  sea-level  of  2,500 
to  2,600  feet,  which  is  more  than  1,000  feet  higher  than  the  plain  of  the 
Mouse  Valley  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  railroad  100  miles  east. 

SPRING  BROOK. — 316.0  miles.      (34.0  miles.)     Altitude,  2,066  feet. 

Railroad  descends  more  than  500  feet  in  a  distance  of  a  little  more 
than  twenty  miles,  to  the  Valley  of  the  Missouri  River,  crossing  and  re- 
crossing  the  channel  of  Stony  Creek. 

Williston — 327.3  miles.  (22.7  miles.)  Altitude,  1,859  feet-  Pop- 
ulation, 763. 

High,  steep,  naked  butte-like  hills  south  of  the  river.  River  channel 
meanders  over  a  broad  belt  of  changing  sand-bars.  Dense  forest  of  red 
willows  and  heavy  timber  along  the  river,  the  favorite  haunt  of  deer  and 
other  wild  game.  The  city  stands  upon  a  terrace  formed  by  a  glacial 
stream  which  spreads  as  a  belt  of  gravel  and  sand  for  a  distance  of  more 
than  thirty  miles  along  the  course  of  Little  Muddy  Creek.  The  bottom 
land  of  the  valley  is  about  thirty  feet  lower  than  the  "bench"  or  terrace, 
and  the  Little  Muddy  flows  in  a  small  channel  on  the  "bottom."  So 
slight  is  the  fall  of  this  flat  bottom  that  an  irrigation  ditch  eleven  miles  in 
length  is  necessary  to  raise  the  water  out  of  the  small  channel  to  the  level 
meadow  bottom-land  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley. 

BUFORD. — 348.0  miles.     (2.0  miles.)     Altitude,  1,950  feet. 

Railroad  follows  the  picturesque  valley  of  the  Missouri.  South  and 
west  rise  the  naked  walls  of  the  buttes,  cut  in  the  high  prairie  by  the 
mighty  rivers,  the  Missouri  and  Yellowstone.  The  two  rivers  meet  be- 
yond the  plain  south  of  the  station. 


THE   GREAT   NORTHERN   LINES.  209 

FARGO  TO  GRAND  FORKS  AND  NECHE. 

Fargo — (Cass  County.)  Distance  from  St.  Paul,  242.0  miles. 
(Distance  south  of  International  Boundary  at  Neche,  159.1  miles.) 
Altitude,  900  feet.  Population,  9,589. 

The  Great  Northern  Railway  crosses  the  Red  River  of  the  North  at 
Fargo,  thence  running  down  the  Red  River  Valley  generally  at  a.  distance 
of  about  ten  miles  from  the  river,  to  Grand  Forks,  and  the  International 
Boundary.  The  entire  distance  is  over  the  almost  level  plain  of  the  bot- 
tom of  Lake  Agassiz,  broken  only  by  beach  ridges,  or  shore  lines.  The 
soil  is  the  fine  silt  of  the  lake  bottom,  blackened  by  the  accumulation  of 
organic  matter.  Its  fertility  is  unexcelled  by  anything  in  the  world. 

For  fifteen  miles  out  from  Fargo  the  prairie  is  nearly  level,  and  un- 
drained.  The  plain  is  crossed  by  the  Sheyenne  River  at  Harwood,  but 
this  river  can  hardly  be  said  to  drain  the  land.  It  is  the  relic  of  a  large 
glacial  stream,  but  which  has  now  but  a  very  slight  current.  The  sta- 
tions of  Harwood  and  Argusville  are  both  lower  than  Fargo.  The  river 
would  have  to  flow  up  hill  to  discharge  its  waters  directly  into  the  Red. 

GARDNER. — Distance  from  Fargo,  20.7  miles.  (Distance  south  of 
the  International  Boundary,  138.4  miles.)  Altitude,  886  feet.  Popula- 
tion, 266. 

GRANDIN. — 27.0  miles.     (132.1  miles.)     Altitude,  891  feet. 

Hillsboro  Beach,  rising  ten  feet  from  the  prairie,  two  miles  wrest  of 
railroad.  With  some  difficulty  distinguished  from  the  passing  train. 

KELSO. —  (Traill  County),  33.2  miles.  (125.9  miles.)  Altitude,  897 
feet. 

North  branch  Elm  River.  Hillsboro  Beach  finely  developed  west,  a 
typical  shore-line  of  gravel  and  sand. 

HILLSBORO. — 38.9  miles.  (120.2  miles.)  Altitude,  902  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 1,172. 

Goose  River,  north  of  the  city.  The  Hillsboro  Beach  rises  fifteen 
feet  from  the  level  prairie,  one  mile  west. 

CUMMINGS. — 46.7  miles.     (112.4  miles.)     Altitude,  904  feet 

Two  miles  south  of  Cummings  the  railroad  crosses  the  Hillsboro 
Shore-Line.  This  is  here  not  a  beach  ridge  but  an  eroded  cliff  eight 
to  ten  feet  high.  East  of  Cummings  a  few  rods  it  is  a  well  defined  beach 
ridge  of  gravel  and  sand,  rising  ten  feet  on  the  east  side  and  falling  five 
feet  on  the  back,  or  west  side. 

14 


210  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

BUXTON. — 52.8  miles.  (106.3  miles.)  Altitude,  931  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 470. 

North  of  Cummings  the  railroad  runs  upon  the  crest  of  the  Hillsboro 
Beach  for  a  short  distance,  then  the  beach  diverges  eastward.  West  of 
Buxton  one  mile  is  the  lower  Blanchard  Beach.  This  is  the  high  ridge 
which  is  crossed  four  miles  west  of  Cummings,  on  the  stage  route  to 
Mayville. 

REYNOLDS. —  (Grand  Forks  County),  57.6  miles.  (101.5  miles.) 
Altitude,  910  feet.  Population,  389. 

The  Hillsboro  Beach  is  crossed  again  by  the  railroad  one  and  one-half 
miles  south  of  Reynolds.  The  beach  is  here  about  thirty  rods  wide,  a 
large  gravel  pit  having  been  opened  in  it.  It  is  about  eight  feet  high  on 
the  east  side,  falling  six  feet  on  the  west  side.  The  Emerado  Beach  is 
crossed  one  and  one-half  miles  north  of  Reynolds,  and  three  miles  far- 
ther north  the  upper  Ojata  Beach  is  crossed.  One  mile  north  of  Thomp- 
son the  lower  Ojata  Beach  is  crossed.  A  mile  north  of  Merrifield  is  the 
Gladstone  Beach,  which  marks  the  shore  of  the  lake  when  its  southern 
point  was  where  this  beach  crosses  the  Red  River  east  of  Buxton. 

GRAND  FORKS. — 78.2  miles.    (Seepage  198.) 

SCHURMEIER. — 84.3  miles.      (74.8  miles.)     Altitude,  833  feet. 

Irregularly  ridged  surface,  showing  wave  action  at  time  of  forma- 
tion of  Burnside  Beach. 

MANVEL. — 90.7  miles.      (68.4  miles.)     Altitude,  827  feet. 

The  irregular  surface  of  the  Burnside  Beach  continues  east  of  the 
railroad  from  Schurmeier,  and  extends  through  the  west  side  of  Manvel. 

ARDOCH. — (Walsh  County),  102.4  miles.  (56.7  miles.)  Altitude, 
832  feet.  Population,  298. 

The  Burnside  Beach,  a  ridge  two  to  three  feet  high,  and  thirty  rods 
wide,  crossed  by  railroad  north  of  station. 

MINTO. — 108.8  miles.  (50.3  miles.)  Altitude,  828  feet.  Popula- 
tion, 860. 

Burnside  Shore-Line  about  a  mile  west,  but  it  is  not  easily  traced  on 
the  level  prairie.  Cross  Forest  River. 

Grafton — 117.7  miles.  (41.4  miles.)  Altitude,  834  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 2,378. 

Burnside  Beach  passes  through  east  side  of  city.  Gladstone  Beach 
about  four  miles  west,  but  neither  beach  is  well  marked.  The  region 
represents  the  almost  perfectly  level  plain  of  the  lake  bottom.  The  black 
soil  is  unexcelled  in  fertility  in  the  world. 


THE   GREAT  NORTHERN   LINES.  211 

ST.  THOMAS. —  (Pembina  County),  131.8  miles.  (27.3  miles.)  Al- 
titude, 847  feet.  Population,  66 1. 

The  Pembina  Mountain,  or  northern  and  higher  portion  of  the  Mani- 
toba Escarpment,  rises  clearly  on  the  horizon  twenty  miles  distant. 

HAMILTON. — 144.8  miles.  (14.3  miles.)  Altitude,  827  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 224. 

Burnside  Beach  is  crossed  by  railroad  one  mile  south. 

BATHGATE. — 149.9  miles.  (9.2  miles.)  Altitude,  828  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 756. 

Cross  the  Tongue  River.  Burnside  Beach  about  one  mile  west,  not 
easily  recognized.  Two  or  three  low  ridges  two  to  four  feet  high,  mark- 
ing the  shore-line  of  Lake  Agassiz  during  the  Ossawa  Stage,  are  about 
two  miles  east,  and  appear  from  passing  train  as  slight  undulations  in  the 
surface.  Pembina  Mountain  rises  high  in  the  west,  distant  about  twen- 
ty-five miles. 

NECHE. — 157.7  miles.  (1.4  miles.)  Altitude,  837  feet.  Popula- 
tion, 396. 

Pembina  River  north  of  the  town.  In  a  journey  of  160  miles  from 
Fargo  the  traveler  has  seen  the  finest  agricultural  land  in  the  world. 
His  route  has  been  along  the  axial  line  of  the  Red  River  Valley.  The 
fine  sediment  of  the  lake  bottom  makes  the  soil  of  incomparable  richness. 
Nowhere  on  the  Western  Hemisphere,  if  in  the  world,  is  there  such  an 
extent  of  so  nearly  level  and  so  fertile  land,  with  so  little  waste. 

WINNIPEG. — North  of  Neche,  74.5  miles.     Altitude,  757  feet. 


WAHPETON  TO  LARIMORB  AND  HANNAH. 

Wahpeton — (Richland  County.)  Distance  from  St.  Paul,  215.4 
miles.  (Distance  south  of  International  Boundary,  228  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 955  feet.  Population,  2,228. 

Bois  des  Sioux  River  crossed  just  above  its  junction  with  the  Red  to 
form  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  The  highest  shores  of  Lake  Agassiz 
are  twenty-eight  miles  west,  near  Wyndmere,  and  seventeen  miles  east,  in 
Minnesota.  Lake  Traverse  is  thirty-five  miles  south,  lying  in  the  trough 
of  the  southern  outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz.  The  Red  (called  also  Otter 
Tail)  and  the  Bois  des  Sioux  meet  to  form  the  Red  River  of  the  North, 
which  flows  north  along  the  axis  of  the  bed  of  Lake  Agassiz,  285  miles 
in  a  direct  line,  or  about  700  miles  following  its  winding  course,  to  Lake 


212  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

Winnipeg.  At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  highest  shore-line  of 
Lake  Agassiz  the  water  was  about  100  feet  deep  where  the  City  of  Wah- 
peton  now  stands. 

DWIGHT. — Distance  from  Wahpeton,  6.9  miles.  (South  of  Interna- 
tional Boundary,  221.1  miles.)  Altitude,  946  feet. 

The  front  or  edge  of  the  plateau  of  the  delta  formed  by  the  Sheyenne 
River  in  Lake  Agassiz  rises  along  the  horizon  eight  miles  west. 

COLFAX. — 20. i  miles.      (206.9  miles.)     Altitude,  951  feet. 

South  two  or  three  miles  the  railroad  crosses  the  lower  McCauley- 
ville  Beach,  which  is  broken  into  dunes  of  wind-blown  sand  five  to  fifteen 
feet  high,  the  sand  having  been  washed  from  the  edge  of  the  delta,  which 
is  about  a  mile  west. 

WALCOTT. — 26.3  miles.     (201.7  miles.)     Altitude,  948  feet. 

The  delta  front  rises  in  the  near  distance  west,  so  that  the  horizon  is 
near.  The  horizon  to  the  east  is  far  out  over  the  broad  expanse  of  the 
level  lake  bottom.  Low  swelling  dunes  with  beautifully  curved  outlines 
south.  Dunes  with  ragged  crests  north.  These  are  the  wind-piled 
sands  of  the  upper  McCauleyville  Beach.  This  beach  was  formed  dur- 
ing the  lowest  stage  of  the  lake  while  it  yet  discharged  to  the  south.  The 
delta  was  formed  during  the  higher  stages  of  the  lake.  The  Campbell 
and  Tintah  Beaches  cross  the  delta  beyond  view  to  the  west,  where  their 
sands  have  been  blown  into  dunes  ten  to  thirty  feet  high. 

KINDRED. —  (Cass  County),  34.2  miles.  (193.8  miles.)  Altitude, 
932  feet.  Population,  348. 

The  lower  McCauleyville  Beach  turns  westward  between  Walcott 
and  the  Sheyenne  River.  It  is  a  large  ridge  broken  into  hills  twenty  to 
thirty  feet  high.  A  house  stands  on  the  top  of  one  of  these  hills  just 
west  of  the  railroad.  After  crossing  the  river  a  fine  view  of  the  delta 
plateau  is  obtained  from  the  level  prairie  south  of  Kindred. 

DAVENPORT. — 39.1  miles.  (188.9  miles.)  Altitude,  910  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 245. 

Crossing  Fargo  and  Southwestern  Branch  N.  P.  R'y.  The  front  of 
the  delta  can  be  seen  from  the  west  window  as  it  extends  away  to  the 
northwest. 

DURBIN. — 47.3  miles.      (180.7  miles.)     Altitude,  908  feet. 

Two  miles  north  of  Durbin  Maple  Ridge  rises  ten  feet  above  the  level 
prairie,  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  railroad.  This  is  a  beach  ridge  which 
was  built  out  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Agassiz  as  a  "spit,"  or  bar.  It  is 


THE   GREAT   NORTHERN   LINES.  213 

a  broad  swell  about  fifty  rods  across,  and  follows  the  course  of  Maple 
River  for  twenty  miles. 

CASSELTON. — 54.8  miles.  (173.2  miles.)  Altitude,  927  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 1,207. 

Crossing  main  line  N.  P.  Ry.  Prairie  level  as  the  floor  of  a  house. 
An  ideal  landscape. 

ARTHUR. — 68.6  miles.     (159.4  miles.)     Altitude,  979  feet. 

The  Campbell  Beach  is  crossed  by  the  railroad  south  where  it  is  a 
ridge  rising  ten  feet  on  its  east  side.  Just  before  reaching  Arthur  the 
beach  west  of  the  track  appears  to  be  double,  one  ridge  being  higher  than 
the  other,  like  stairs.  The  lower  one  is  the  upper  McCauleyville,  the 
higher  the  Campbell.  The  crest  of  the  Campbell  Beach  lies  close  east  of 
Arthur.  This  beach  is  again  crossed  north  of  Arthur  as  it  turns  west- 
ward, the  railroad  then  running  east  of  and  near  to  the  ridge  for  about 
ten  miles.  Marshy  lagoons  occur  frequently  west  of  the  ridge. 

HUNTER. — 74.6  miles.  (153.4  miles.)  Altitude,  965  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 407. 

The  upper  McCauleyville  Beach  is  a  low  bank,  or  cliff,  east  of  Hun- 
ter. It  can  be  traced  from  the  east  window  for  about  two  miles  south, 
lying  half  a  mile  from  the  railroad.  The  Campbell  Shore-Line  is  a  well 
marked  cliff  half  a  mile  west. 

BLANCHARD. —  (Traill  County),  85.2  miles.  (142.8  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 935  feet. 

South  of  Blanchard  a  fine  illustration  of  the  development  of  a  drain- 
age system  on  a  level  plain  is  afforded.  The  prairie  is  intersected  by  the 
north  fork  of  the  Elm  River,  and  tiny  hills,  just  like  the  big  hills  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  York  except  in  size,  are  separated  by  little  coulees,  or 
young  valleys.  (See  Chapter  One.) 

MAYVILLE. — 97  miles.  (131  miles.)  Altitude,  967  feet.  Popula- 
tion, i,  1 06. 

South  of  Mayville  the  rise  toward  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Agassiz 
is  clearly  seen.  The  Campbell,  Tintah,  Norcross,  and  lower  Herman 
Shore-Lines  rise  one  above  another,  the  crest  of  the  last  named  forming 
the  horizon  line.  The  heights  of  these  beaches,  as  shown  in  Figure  40, 
page  85,  give  an  idea  of  the  depth  of  the  water  of  the  lake  where  the 
City  of  Mayville  now  stands,  at  the  time  when  these  beaches  were  being 
formed.  The  Campbell  Beach  passes  through  the  City  of  Portland,  two 
miles  west,  as  a  wave-cut  cliff.  The  Bruflat  Academy  stands  upon 


214  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

its  crest.     North  of  Mayville  half  a  mile  the  railroad  crosses  the  upper 
McCauleyville  Beach,  which  here  has  a  nearly  northeast  course. 

HATTON. — 1 08.6  miles.  (119.4  miles.)  Altitude,  i, 068  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 430. 

The  elevation  of  the  railroad  from  Mayville  to  Hatton,  a  distance  of 
less  than  twelve  miles,  rises  more  than  100  feet.  It  may  be  observed  also 
that  the  soil  becomes  more  sandy.  The  sudden  rise  in  the  elevation  and 
the  more  sandy  character  of  the  soil  are  due  to  the  fact  that  the  railroad 
here  passes  upon  the  plain  of  the  Elk  Valley  Delta.  This  delta  spreads 
over  the  lake  bottom  from  the  mouth  of  the  Elk  Valley  north  of  Larimore 
south  to  Portland,  its  southern  and  eastern  edge  thence  extending  near 
Mayville  north  and  a  little  east,  crossing  the  main  line  of  the  Great 
Northern  Railway  about  a  mile  west  of  Arvilla.  The  Norcross  Beach 
crosses  this  delta  plain  at  Hatton.  It  can  be  recognized  south  of  Hatton 
where  it  is  marked  by  small  dunes  of  wind-blown  sand. 

i  NORTHWOOD. —  (Grand  Forks  County),  116.8  miles.     (11.2  miles.) 
Altitude,  1,101  feet.     Population,  697. 

From  Hatton  north  is  a  beautiful  prairie,  the  top  of  the  delta  being 
here  but  slightly  undulating.  The  highland  of  the  Manitoba  Escarp- 
ment, the  southern  extension  of  the  Pembina  Mountain,  rises  clearly  in 
view  in  the  west.  The  highest,  or  Herman,  shore-line  of  Lake  Agassiz 
lies  at  the  foot  of  this  long  hill. 

LARIMORE. — 129.5  miles.  (98.5  miles.)  Altitude,  1,138  feet. 
Population,  1,235.  (See  page  199.) 

McCANNA. — 137.7  miles.     (90.3  miles.)     Altitude,  1,145  ^eet- 

The  broad  level  plain  is  the  mouth  of  the  Elk  Valley.  The  highland 
west  is  the  Manitoba  Escarpment.  North  four  miles  and  half  a  mile  east 
of  the  railroad,  rises  the  first  of  the  series  of  hills  locally  known  as  "The 
Ridge."  These  hills  were  islands  in  Lake  Agassiz.  The  Ridge  formed 
the  eastern  side,  and  the  Manitoba  Escarpment  the  western  side,  of  the 
Elk  Valley.  It  was  the  Glacial  Elk  River,  which  once  flowed  in  this 
broad  valley,  which  formed  the  delta  south  of  Larimore.  North  of  this 
first  island  the  railroad  crosses  a  high  beach  ridge  which  extends  between 
the  first  and  second  islands.  The  second  island  rises  as  a  large  hill  west 
of  the  railroad  after  crossing  the  beach  ridge. 

ORR. — 143.0  miles.     (85.0  miles.)     Altitude,  1,103  feet. 

Fine  view  of  the  great  plain  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz,  from 
east  window,  south  of  Orr.  A  few  rods  south  of  the  station  the  railroad 


THE   GREAT  NORTHERN   LINES.  215 

crosses  the  Norcross  Beach,  which  is  here  a  well  defined  ridge  of  gravel 
and  sand. 

INKSTER. — 148.5  miles.  (79.5  miles.)  Altitude,  1,041  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 376. 

Two  miles  north  of  Orr  the  railroad  crosses  the  Tintah  Beach,  which 
is  well  marked.  West  of  the  railroad  it  is  double,  the  upper  crest  being 
two  to  five  feet  higher  than  the  lower.  Inkster  stands  upon  the  flat  top 
of  the  Campbell  Beach,  which  is  here  a  wave-cut  cliff,  or  bank,  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  feet  high.  Half  a  mile  east,  on  the  level  prairie,  is  the  Mc- 
Cauleyville  Beach,  a  gravelly  and  sandy  ridge.  The  railroad  crosses  the 
latter  north  of  Inkster  near  the  crossing  of  Forest  River,  where  it  is  a 
conspicuous  ridge,  its  front  rising  eight  feet  from  the  prairie,  and  falling- 
five  feet  on  the  west. 

CONWAY. —  (Walsh  County),  154.5  miles.  (73.5  miles.)  Altitude, 
993  feet.  Population,  216. 

From  the  crossing  of  Forest  River  north  to  Conway  the  McCauley- 
ville  Beach  lies  a  few  rods  west  of  the  railroad.  A  half  mile  west  and 
parallel  with  it  is  the  Campbell  Beach.  The  first  of  "The  Mountains"- 
the  name  locally  applied  to  the  large  hills  which  are  the  northern  continu- 
ation of  "The  Ridge" — rises  high  two  and  one-half  miles  west  of  Con- 
way  as  a  large  long  hill. 

PISEK. — 1 60.0  miles.  (68.0  miles.)  Altitude,  1,006  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 132. 

The  wide  southern  end  of  the  second  "Mountain"  rises  three  miles 
west.  The  crest  of  this  "mountain"  is  200  to  225  feet  higher  than  the 
surrounding  prairie,  and  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  feet  higher  than  the 
highest  point  reached  by  the  waters  of  Lake  Agassiz. 

PARK  RIVER. — 166.1  miles.  (61.9  miles.)  Altitude,  1,003  ^eet- 
Population,  1,088. 

From  two  miles  south  of  Pisek  the  railroad  runs  on  the  natural  grade 
of  the  McCauleyville  Beach.  The  Campbell  Beach  lies  half  a  mile  west, 
and  is  a  massive  beach  rising  twenty  to  thirty-five  feet.  The  Mountain 
is  hidden  from  view  by  the  high  crest  of  this  beach.  After  crossing 
Park  River  the  top  of  the  Mountain  is  seen  above  the  crest  of  the  beach. 
About  a  mile  north  the  railroad  crosses  the  Campbell  Beach  by  a  deep 
cut.  The  prairie  surface  beyond  is  marked  by  hummocks,  the  irregular 
Tintah  and  Norcross  Beaches,  broken  by  the  action  of  the  waves  beating 
upon  the  base  of  the  Mountain,  which  now  rises  high  to  the  west. 


216  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

EDINBURG. — 175.5  miles.  (52-5  miles.)  Altitude,  1,194  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 286. 

Edinburg  stands  at  the  north  end  of  the  Mountain.  This  "Moun- 
tain." which  is  a  part  of  the  great  ridge  which  forms  the  eastern  side 
of  Elk  Valley  (called  Golden  Valley,  or  Pleasant  Valley,  in  northern 
portion)  should  be  clearly  distinguished  from  the  Pembina  Mountain, 
which  is  a  part  of  the  Manitoba  Escarpment,  which  formed  the  western 
shore  of  Lake  Agassiz.  "The  Ridge"  and  "The  Mountains"  on  the  east 
side  of  Elk  and  Golden  Valleys,  are  drift  hills  (moraines).  The  Mani- 
toba Escarpment  is. a  hill  of  the  Cretaceous  rocks.  (See  Seventh  Chap- 
ter, page  69. )  The  higher  part  of  the  Manitoba  Escarpment,  north  from 
about  where  the  railroad  passes  upon  it,  is  called  Pembina  Mountain. 

MILTON. —  (Cavalier  County),  1 88.1  miles.  (39.9  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,591  feet.  Population,  384. 

In  the  distance  from  Edinburg  to  Milton,  a  little  more  than  twelve 
miles,  the  railroad  rises  397  feet,  the  grade  being  forty-two  feet  to  the 
mile  for  seven  or  eight  miles.  Here  are  many  boulders  of  granite,  and 
gravel  and  sand,  and  the  irregular  ridges  and  rounded  hills  which  always 
indicate  a  terminal  moraine.  This  is  one  of  the  ranges  of  the  Itasca,  or 
Tenth,  Moraine.  Boulders  are  especially  abundant  about  Union.  Deep 
cuts  along  the  railroad  show  sections  of  drift  hills,  often  with  stratified 
sand,  some  of  the  excavations  reaching  into  the  shales  of  the  bed-rock. 
Deep,  jagged  sided  coulees,  and  forests  of  poplar  trees,  lend  a  pic- 
turesque grandeur  to  the  scene.  Magnificent  panoramic  views  of  the 
level  plain  of  the  valley  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz  are  obtained  at  different 
points  along  the  line.  A  fine  example  of  a  "young  valley"  occurs  west 
of  Milton, — one  of  the  head  streams  of  Park  River.  Its  course  can  be 
followed  for  several  miles  (better  traced  when  traveling  east)  from. west 
of  Milton,  where  it  has  its  "head,"  growing  deeper  and  wider  down  its 
course  south  and  east;  many  small  "tributaries"  entering  it. 

OSNABROCK. — 193.7  miles.  (34-3  miles.)  Altitude,  1,625  feet. 
Population,  228. 

Fine  undulating  prairie,  marked  by  occasional  low  morainic  hills. 

EASBY. — 199.2  miles.      (28.8  miles.)     Altitude,  1,652  feet. 

A  small  but  noticeable  range  of  morainic  hills  extends  across  the  line 
of  the  railroad  in  a  northwest  by  north  direction. 

Langdon — 205.4  miles.  (22.6  miles.)  Altitude,  1,615  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, i,  1 1 8. 

Range  of  morainic  hills  east  half  a  mile.     Rolling  prairie  landscape, 


THE   GREAT   NORTHERN   LINES.  217 

fine  farming  lands.  Several  low,  gently  rising  moraines,  belonging  to 
the  Itasca  Moraine,  lie  in  nearly  parallel  courses  a  few  miles  apart. 

HANNAH. — 226.5  milejs.  (1.5  miles.)  Altitude,  1,568  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 596. 

Terminus  of  railroad.  The  vast  plain  comprising  the  top  of  Pem- 
bina  Mountain  is  crossed  by  several  small  ranges  of  the  Itasca  Moraine. 
These  diverge  from  the  line  of  the  railroad  going  north  and  approach  it 
going  south,  from  the  right  hand. 


CHAPTER  THE  TWENTY-SECOND. 

GEOLOGY  FROM  A  CAR  WINDOW  — THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  LINES. 

Fargo — (Cass  County.)  Distance  from  St.  Paul,  251.5  miles. 
(Distance  from  Montana  Line,  376.2  miles.)  Altitude,  902  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 9,589. 

Fargo  is  situated  upon  the  axis  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  surrounded 
by  ^he  almost  perfectly  level  prairie  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz,  the 
great  wheat  belt  of  the  Northwest  and  the  world.  The  Northern  Pacific 
Railway  runs  nearly  due  west  across  the  State.  For  more  than  forty 
miles  across  the  level  plain  of  the  lake  bottom  the  track  is  without  a 
curve,  said  to  be  the  longest  stretch  of  straight  track  in  the  world. 

MAPLETON. — Distance  from  Fargo,  12.5  miles.  (363.7  miles.) 
Altitude,  905  feet.  Population,  322. 

Prairie  rises  imperceptibly  toward  the  west.  At  Greene,  two  miles 
west,  the  railroad  crosses  ''Maple  Ridge,"  which  rises  ten  feet  from  the 
prairie  to  the  east.  This  was  an  off-shore  bar  known  as  a  "spit,"  built 
at  the  time  of  the  Blanchard  and  Hillsboro  stages  of  Lake  Agassiz. 

CASSELTON. — 20.0  miles.  (356.2  miles.)  Altitude,  931  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 1,207. 

Crossing  Breckenridge  Division  Great  Northern  Railway.  Broad, 
level,  fertile  prairie;  the  finest  wheat  land  in  the  world. 

WHEATLAND. — 25.6  miles.     (350.6  miles.)     Altitude,  992  feet. 

Level  prairie  continues  west  of  Casselton,  till  at  Wheatland  it  rises 
suddenly  fifteen  feet  onto  a  conspicuous  gravelly  ridge  sixty  rods  wide, 
the  Campbell  Beach. 

MAGNOLIA. — 29.7  miles.     (346.5  miles.)     Altitude,  1,078  feet. 

The  watertank  stands  upon  the  Herman  Beach,  the  highest  shore- 
line of  Lake  Agassiz,  and  the  western  limit  of  the  Red  River  Valley. 
The  Tintah  and  Norcross  Beaches  were  crossed  between  this  point  and 
Wheatland.  Beach  sand  and  gravel  are  taken  from  an  extensive  pit 
which  has  been  opened  in  the-  Herman  Beach. 


THE   NORTHERN   PACIFIC   LINES.  219 

BUFFALO. — 35.2  miles.  (341.0  miles.)  Altitude,  1,204  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 213. 

Buffalo  is  212  feet  higher  than  Wheatland,  less  than  ten  miles  east, 
and  126  feet  higher  than  Magnolia,  five  and  one-half  miles  east,  at  the 
highest  shore-line  of  Lake  Agassiz.  This  is  the  Manitoba  Escarpment, 
the  continuation  of  the  Pembina  Mountain  highland,  which  formed  the 
western  side  of  the  pre-glacial  Red  River  Valley.  (See  Seventh  Chap- 
ter.) The  traveler  can  easily  distinguish  the  heavy  grade  as  the  engine 
toils  westward,  or  rolls  with  easy  speed  toward  the  east.  At  Buffalo  a 
distinct  range  of  low  hills  is  crossed,  the  Fergus  Falls,  or  Eighth, 
Moraine.  The  moraine  makes  a  loop  south  of  the  railroad,  being  crossed 
again  fifteen  miles  west  near  Alta. 

TOWER  CITY. — 41.0  miles.  (335.2  miles.)  Altitude,  1,172  feet. 
Population,  468. 

Scattered  morainic  "knobs"  give  a  varied  aspect  to  the  prairie,  out- 
lying hills  from  the  moraine  just  crossed. 

ORISKA. —  (Barnes  County),  46.5  miles.  (329.7  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,269  ^et- 
One  of  the  ranges  of  the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine  is  well  shown  east 
of  Oriska  about  two  miles.  North  of  Oriska  are  seen  broad,  low  hills 
differing  in  appearance  from  the  "morainic"  hills.  These  are  "pre- 
glacial"  hills,  that  is,  they  were  hills  before  the  Ice  Invasion,  and  while 
they  were  passed  over  by  the  ice,  yet  were  not  leveled  down  entirely. 
They  are  therefore  "veneered  hills,"  being  covered  with  a  mantle  of  drift. 

ALTA. — 51.3  miles.     (324.9  miles.)     Altitude,  1,430  feet. 

More  hills  of  the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine  between  Oriska  and  Alta. 
The  elevation  at  Alta  is  161  feet  higher  than  at  Oriska,  five  miles  east. 
This  rapid  rise  means  that  here  was  a  hillside  on  the  old,  or  pre-glacial, 
landscape.  Broad  hills  with  smooth  surfaces  north  are  veneered  hills. 
Pilot  Mound,  seven  or  eight  miles  north  of  Alta,  is  such  a  veneered 
hill. 

Valley  City — 57.0  miles.  (319.2  miles.)  Altitude,  1,221  feet. 
Population,  2,446. 

Crossing  main  line  of  Soo  Railway.  The  railroad  descends  209  feet 
from  Alta  to  the  bottom  of  the  Sheyenne  Valley,. rising  again  204  feet 
to  Berea,  five  miles  west.  At  the  edge  of  the  valley  east  of  the  city  a 
fragment  of  the  prairie  has  been  cut  around  by  coulees  so  as  to  form  a 
flat-topped  hill,  or  "butte."  This  is  capped  with  drift  to  a  depth  of  ten 
or  twelve  feet.  The  line  of  separation  between  the  drift  and  the  under- 


220  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

lying  Cretaceous  shales  can  be  traced  by  the  difference  in  the  vegetation 
above  and  below  the  line.  A  similar  line  can  be  followed  along  the  sides 
of  the  coulee  down  which  the  railroad  descends  to  the  valley  bottom  from 
the  east,  and  also  along  the  sides  of  the  valley  of  the  Sheyenne.  Large 
and  small  boulders  are  strewn  upon  the  top  and  sides  of  the  "butte,"  and 
also  along  the  coulee.  Outcroppings  of  the  blue  shale  can  be  seen  along 
the  sides  of  the  coulee,  and  in  places  in  the  steep  sides  of  the  Sheyenne 
Valley. 

The  Sheyenne  Valley  has  a  most  interesting  history.  Here  once 
rolled  a  mighty  river,  many  times  larger  than  the  present  small  stream 
which  occupies  the  great  valley,  because  kept  at  flood  by  the  waters  from 
the  great  melting  Ice-Sheet,  during  the  closing  stages  of  the  Glacial 
Period.  This  glacial  river  carved  its  broad  channel  deeply  into  the 
Cretaceous  shales  which  underlie  the  drift,  and  bore  the  materials  thus 
eroded,  together  with  sand  and  finer  rock-powder  from  the  melting  ice, 
into  Lake  Agassiz,  and  there  built  up  the  great  delta  which  bears  its 
name.  (See  Ninth  Chapter.) 

SANBORN. — 68.0  miles.  (308.2  miles.)  Altitude,  1,445  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 259. 

The  hills  of  the  Dovre,  or  Seventh,  Moraine  lie  west  of  the  Sheyenne 
River,  and  cap  the  hills  which  border  the  coulee  up  which  the  railroad  rises 
to  the  prairie  from  Valley  City.  Once  out  upon  the  prairie  numerous 
steep,  rounded  knobs  are  noticed.  South  of  the  railroad  the  hills  of  the 
Waconia,  or  Sixth,  Moraine  rise  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet  above 
the  prairie.  This  moraine  continues  south  of  the  railroad  and  nearly 
parallel  with  it  for  several  miles.  A  long  lake  extends  south  from  Hobart, 
and  several  lakes,  one  of  which  is  crossed  by  the  railroad  a  mile 
east  of  Sanborn,  represent  ancient  watercourses,  probably  pre-glacial 
valleys,  which  were  partially  filled  with  drift. 

ECKELSON. — 74.4  miles.     (301.8  miles.)     Altitude,  1,464  feet. 

The  railroad  crosses  Lake  Eckelson,  which  also  lies  in  an  old  water- 
way. The  hills  surrounding  the  lake  rise  twenty-five  to  forty  feet.  Wave- 
worn  beaches  border  the  lake,  and  boulders  are  perched  upon  the  shores, 
shoved  up  by  the  action  of  ice  during  winters.  The  Waconia  Moraine  is 
crossed  by  the  railroad  just  west  of  Eckelson. 

URBAN  A. — 78.2  miles.     (298.0  miles.)     Altitude,  1,471  feet. 

Between  Eckelson  and  Urbana  the  railroad  crosses  another  ancient 
waterway  a  fourth  to  a  half  mile  in  width,  with  hills  rising  forty  feet  on 
each  side.  •  This  old  valley  is  occupied  by  a  lake  north  of  the  track,  and 


THE   NORTHERN    PACIFIC   LINES.  221 

by  a  slough  south.  More  small  lakes  lie  in  the  valley  to  the  south  and 
west. 

SPIRITWOOD. —  (Stutsman  County.)  81.0  miles.  (295.2  miles.) 
Altitude,  1,478  feet. 

West  of  Spiritwood  the  railroad  crosses  a  broad  and  deep  valley 
having  steep  sides  and  a  level  bottom,  extensive  hay-meadows  occupying 
the  flat  bottom.  This  is  the  valley  in  which  lies  the  Spiritwood  Chain  of 
Lakes.  These  lakes  lie  along  a  course  from  five  or  six  miles  north  of 
the  railroad  fifteen  miles  or  more  to  the  northwest.  This  also  is  an 
ancient  drainage  channel.  East  of  Spiritwood  station  the  low  rolling 
hills  are  those  of  the  Elysian,  or  Fifth,  Moraine.  West  of  the  station 
are  similar  hills  of  the  Kiester,  or  Fourth,  Moraine. 

Jamestown. — 92.0  miles.  (284.2  miles.)  Altitude,  1,397  ^eet-  Pop- 
ulation, 2.853. 

The  buildings  of  the  North  Dakota  Asylum  for  the  Insane  stand  upon 
the  west  bank  of  the  James  River,  seen  from  south  window.  A  fine  view 
of  the  deep  James  Valley,  its  sides  serrated  with  coulees,  is  afforded 
as  the  approach  is  made  to  the  city.  The  Valley  of  the  James  is  not  as 
deep  as  that  of  the  Sheyenne,  being  from  seventy-five  to  125  feet  deep, 
cut  in  the  drift  through  most  of  its  course,  but  in  places  having  its  bed 
in  the  Cretaceous  rocks  which  underlie  the  drift.  Like  the  Sheyenne 
Valley,  it  is  a  large  channel  eroded  by  the  flood-waters  from  the  melting 
Ice-Sheet.  From  Bloom,  five  miles  east  of  Jamestown,  the  highest  point 
between  the  James  and  Sheyenne  Valleys,  the  railroad  descends  101  feet 
to  Jamestown.  West  the  grade  rises  132  feet  in  five  miles,  to  the  prairie. 
The  coulee  up  which  the  railroad  passes  to  the  prairie  to  the  west  fur- 
nishes a  fine  illustration  of  the  development  of  a  river  system.  The 
coulee,  itself  a  "young"  valley,  has  its  sides  serrated  with  many  smaller 
coulees,  still  "younger"  tributaries.  The  prairie  bordering  the  Valley  is 
thus  being  cut  up  into  hills. 


DEVILS  LAKE  BRANCH. 

JAMESTOWN  NORTHWARD. — The  railroad  follows  the  valley  of  the 
Pipe  Stem  River,  and  a  coulee  which  enters  this,  to  the  general  level  of 
the  prairie  at  Parkhurst,  six  miles  from  Jamestown. 

The  great  plateau,  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  rises  in  the  west  six  to 
ten  miles  distant,  the  railroad  running  at  about  this  distance  from  the 
steep  slope  of  its  front  for  twenty-five  miles  to  the  northern  boundary 

15 


222  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

of  Stutsman  County.  At  times  the  horizon  line  is  rendered  broken  and 
irregular  along  the  top  of  the  plateau  by  the  morainic  knobs  and  ridges 
which  lie  upon  it.  Deep  coulees  also  intersect  the  face  of  the  sloping 
front  of  the  great  highland.  The  prairie  is  a  fine  level  expanse  such  as 
is  common  in  the  broad  tracts  between  moraines.  This  gently  undulating- 
tract  continues  northward  for  forty  miles,  to  Carrington. 

MELVILLE. — (Foster  County.)  33.4  miles  north  from  Jamestown. 
Altitude,  1,602  feet. 

From  this  point  the.  railroad  diverges  from  its  course  parallel  with 
the  front  of  the  great  plateau.  Hawk's  Nest,  a  large  outlying  hill  belong- 
ing to  the  plateau,  lifts  its  blue  and  hazy  head  on  the  horizon  twelve  miles 
west. 

Carrington. — 42.4  miles.  Altitude,  1,579  ^eet-  Population,  1,150. 
(See  p.  236.) 

New  Rockford — (Eddy  County.)  58.5  miles.  Altitude,  1,529  feet. 
Population,  698. 

Cross  the  James  River,  here  a  small  stream  with  sluggish  current. 
A  splendid  expanse  of  gently  undulating  prairie  extends  fifteen  to  twenty 
miles  both  east  and  west.  About  two  miles  north  the  railroad  passes 
upon  a  tract  of  morainic  hills.  Between  this  point  and  Minnewaukan, 
twenty-five  miles  north,  the  railroad  crosses  several  morainic  hefts,  which 
represent  the  Kiester,  Elysian,  Waconia,  Dovre,  Fergus  Falls,  and  Leaf 
Hills  Moraines.  Between  the  broad  belts  of  hills  are  tracts  of  nearly  level 
prairie  varying  from  two  to  seven  miles  in  width. 

SHEYENNE. — 69.6  miles.     Altitude,  1,470  feet. 

A  broad  inter-morainic  belt,  traversed  by  the  Sheyenne  River.  A 
fine  illustration  of  river  terraces  is  observed  west  of  the  railroad  bridge, 
there  being  two  distinct  terraces,  or  "benches,"  one  higher  than  the  other. 
These  are  best  seen  from  the  west  window,  or  from  the  rear  platform. 

OBERON. —  (Benson  County.)  78.3  miles.  Altitude,  1,559  feet. 
Population,  217. 

Oberon  lies  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Antelope  Valley,  a  fertile  inter- 
morainic  tract  of  gently  undulating  prairie,  from  five  to  six  miles  wide, 
lying  between  ranges  of  hills  from  one  to  three  miles  wide.  No  stream 
occupies  this  valley,  nor  is  it  a  glacial  drainage  course.  It  is  a  nearly 
level  belt  of  prairie  between  moraines, — an  inter-morainic  tract.  Two 
miles  north  the  railroad  crosses  a  morainic  range  about  two  miles  in 
width,  then  passes  upon  an  inter-morainic  tract,  on  which  Lallie,  or  Fort 


THE   NORTHERN   PACIFIC   LINES.  223 

Totten  Station,  stands.    This  prairie  is  about  eight  miles  long  and  two 
miles  wide,  and  entirely  surrounded  by  ranges  of  morainic  hills. 

Minnewaukan. — 89.1  miles.     Altitude,  1,461  feet.     Population,  432. 

One  and  one-half  miles  north  of  Lallie  the  railroad  passes  amongst 
the  hills,  which  continue  for  six  miles,  to  Minnewaukan,  except  for  two 
small  inter-morainic  areas  which  are  nearly  level.  Minnewaukan  stands 
on  the  western  shore  of  Devils  Lake,  at  the  northern  edge  of  the  great 
morainic  region  just  crossed.  A  broad  expanse  of  prairie  lies  north. 

LEEDS. — 107.3  miles.     Altitude,  1,516  feet.     Population,  349. 

The  railroad  passes  near  to  the  eastern  end  of  Big  Butte,  or  Mauvais 
Butte,  and  along  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Ibsen.  Big  Butte  is  a  large  hill 
which  belongs  in  the  same  series  of  hills  as  Devils  Heart  and  Sully's 
Hill,  south  of  Devils  Lake,  large  pre-glacial  hills  which  are  covered  with 
a  mantle  of  drift,  but  are  not  themselves  "drift  hills."  The  western  and 
higher  end  of  the  Big  Butte  is  crossed  by  well  marked  morainic  ridges, 
with  many  large  boulders. 

*********** 

ELDRIDGE. — 99.0  miles.     (227.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,542  feet. 

After  rising  from  the  Valley  of  the  James  River,  the  great  western 
plateau,  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  forms  the  blue  and  hazy  horizon  west. 
The  Antelope,  or  Third,  Moraine  is  crossed  just  west  of  E.,  the  moraine 
lying  along  the  foot  of  the  great  plateau.  The  engine  will  be  noticed  to 
toil  heavily  now,  as  the  ascent  is  made  onto  the  plateau.  From  three 
miles  west  of  Eldridge  the  grade  rises  277  feet  in  a  distance  of  six  miles 
to  "Windsor. 

WINDSOR. — 108.0  miles.     (268.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,839  ^eet- 

The  slope  of  the  plateau  front  is  marked  by  many  coulees,  small  lakes 
and  marsh  hay-meadows  being  numerous  among  the  hills  of  the  Antelope 
Moraine.  The  eastern  edge  of  the  plateau  marks  the  "divide"  between 
the  James  Valley  and  Missouri  "Slope."  The  landscape  is  now  a  high 
rolling  prairie,  with  hills  rising  fifteen  to  forty  feet,  and  sometimes 
seventy-five  to  100  feet.  This  is  a  splendid  grazing  country.  Ranche 
buildings,  and  fine  herds  of  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  may  be  seen  upon 
the  hillsides  and  prairies.  What  have  been  glacial  lake  bottoms  are  now 
the  best  of  hay-meadows.  Some  of  these  flat  bottoms  show  well  defined 
wave-worn  beaches  around  their  margins,  now  nicely  grassed  over. 
Some  of  these  lakes  probably  represent  the  bottoms  of  glacial  drainage 
channels. 


224  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

MEDINA. — 120.5  miles.     (255.7  miles.)     Altitude,  1,794  feet. 

Occasional  high  morainic  hills,  but  the  landscape  generally  is  the 
"swell-and-sag"  topography  of  glacial  regions.  Large  granite  boulders 
are  frequent.  Fine  hay  sloughs  and  alkaline  lakes  occupy  low  places. 
To  the  west  the  railroad  crosses  a  channel  in  which  lies  a  long  lake,  well 
grown  with  rushes,  a  Jong  morainic  hill  of  white  sand  lying  in  this  lake. 
This  is  probably  a  drainage  channel  by  which  water  from  the  melting  ice- 
sheet  escaped  to  the  Missouri  River. 

CRYSTAL  SPRINGS. — (Kidder  County.)  128.8  miles.  -(248.2  miles.) 
Altitude,  1,796  feet. 

The  railroad  passes  amongst  the  hills  of  the  Gary,  or  Second,  Moraine, 
to  the  west.  The  main  range  lies  south,  but  high  hills  also  occur  north. 
Hills  rise  to  a  height  of  125  feet  above  prairie.  The  track  runs  for 
several  miles  along  the  course  of  an  old  glacial  channel  now  occupied  by 
a  long  irregular  lake,  and  low,  marshy  lands. 

TAPPEN. — 136.7  miles.     (239.5  miles.)     Altitude,  1,765  feet. 

Large  hills  of  the  Gary  Moraine  both  north  and  south  of  railroad. 
West  of  Tappen  another  broad  valley  is  crossed,  having  sloping  sides 
and  an  extensive  hay-meadow  on  its  bottom, — another  glacial  drainage 
channel. 

DAWSON. — 142.0  miles.     (234.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,746  feet. 

Fine  level'  prairie  about  the  town.  South  are  the  high  hills  of  the 
Altamont,  or  First,  Moraine.  High  hrlls  of  this  moraine  are  also  seen 
north  in  distance.  West  the  railroad  makes  a  long  cut  through  a  range 
of  hills  belonging  to  this  moraine,  then  suddenly  comes  into  a  broad 
shallow  glacial  channel,  its  bottom  marked  by  lakes  and  hay  marshes. 
This  is  Long  Lake  Valley,  an  old  drainage  course  which  extends  south- 
west to  Long  Lake,  and  the  Missouri  River. 

Steele — 150.0  miles.  (226.2  miles.)  Altitude,  1,856  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 185. 

Fine  level  tract  about  Steele.  Hills  of  the  Altamont  Moraine  south. 
'A  small  ridge  crossed  west.  High  rugged  hills  north.  West  of  Steele 
a  few  miles  a  grassy  lake  bottom,  probably  a  part  of  the  Long  Lake 
glacial  drainage  system.  That  this  has  been  the  place  of  a  larger  sheet 
of  water  is  shown  by  the  boulders  perched  high  on  its  shore. 

DRISCOLL. — (Burleigh  County.)  161.0  miles.  (215.2  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,873  feet- 
Hills  of  Altamont  Moraine  south  of  railroad  approaching  Driscoll. 
West  the  train  glides  swiftly  down  to  a  broad,  level,  marshy  meadow.  In 


THE   NORTHERN   PACIFIC    LINES.  225 

this  valley  lies  a  chain  of  lakes  representing  a  large  channel  of  glacial 
drainage  which  opens  southwest  into  the  valley  of  Apple  Creek. 

STERLING. — 169.6  miles.     (206.6  miles.)     Altitude,  1,812  feet. 

A  deep  cut  is  here  made  through  the  high  crest  of  a  ridge  of  the 
Altamont  Moraine,  the  crest  being  eighty-two  feet  above  the  track,  and 
the  highest  hill  crossed  by  the  railroad  between  Fargo  and  Bismarck. 
Many  boulders,  some  of  immense  size,  lie  along  the  surface.  Some  of 
these  knobs  rise  200  feet  above  the  prairie.  Butte-like  hills  capped  with 
the  Fox  Hills  Sandstone  can  be  seen  in  the  distance.  These  are  hills  of 
erosion,  and  not  drift  hills.  The  last  ridge  of  morainic  hills,  westward, 
has  now  been  passed.  At  McKenzie  a  fine  level  hay-meadow  is  crossed, 
which  belongs  to  the  Apple  Creek  Valley  glacial  drainage  system,  lead- 
ing to  the  Missouri  River. 

BURLEIGH. — 180.0  miles.     (196.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,722  feet. 

Burleigh  stands  on  a  terrace  plateau,  the  old  flood-plain  of  the  large 
glacial  river  in  the  valley  of  which  now  sluggishly  meanders  the  small 
Apple  Creek.  About  a  mile  west  of  Burleigh  the  "bottom"  of  the  valley 
is  crossed,  about  seventy-five  feet  below  the  old  flood-plain  on  which 
Burleigh  stands. 

BISMARCK. — 192.7  miles.     (183.5  miles.)     Altitude,  1,670  feet. 
Population,  3,319. 

The  State  Penitentiary  stands  upon  what  appears  to  be  a  terrace 
about  fifteen  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  creek  to  the  east,  and  sixty 
feet  lower  than  the  terrace  on  which  Burleigh  stands.  The  depot  at 
Bismarck  stands  upon  another  terrace-like  plateau  ten  or  twelve  feet 
higher  than  that  at  the  Penitentiary,  and  about  two  miles  west  the  eleva- 
tion is  about  the  same  as  that  at  Burleigh. 

The  Missouri  River  is  a  majestic  stream.  Its  broad  sandy  bottom 
spreads  out  in  the  distance  south.  Along  its  banks  the  Cretaceous  rocks 
which  underlie  the  drift  are  exposed  in  many  places.  A  fine  view  of  a 
section  of  these  rocks  is  obtained  at  the  east  end  of  the  railroad  bridge 
which  spans  the  river.  The  strata  of  shale  extend  up  nearly  to  the  top 
of  the  high  bank,  being  capped  with  a  thin  mantle  of  drift.  This  shows 
that  the  broad  valley  east  of  Bismarck  is  really  a  valley  cut  in  the  under- 
lying rocks,  the  drift  merely  forming  a  surface  covering.  North  and 
east  of  Bismarck,  along  the  line  of  the  Bismarck,  Washburn,  and  Great 
Falls  Railway,  many  fine  examples  of  butte-like  hills  may  be  seen,  their 
flat  tops  capped  with  the  Fox  Hills  Sandstone.*  The  extensive  coal  mines 

*J.  E.  Todcl. 


226  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

at  Wilton,  and  other  points  north,  are  in  a  higher  series  of  rocks  than 
the  Fox  Hills  formation.  The  coal  formation  is  the  Laramie.  This 
means  that  the  shelves  of  sandstone  rock  which  cap  the  hills  would  be 
found  deep  below  the  coal  to  the  north.  ( See  Eighteenth  Chapter. ) 

Mandan — (lylorton  County.)  199.5  miles.  (176.7  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,644  feet-  Population,  1,658. 

Mandan  is  located  on  the  broad  plain  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  of 
the  Heart  River,  near  where  that  stream  enters  the  Missouri.  The  city- 
is  picturesquely  located  among  the  hills,  which  have  been  formed  by  the 
deep  cutting  of  the  Heart  River  and  its  tributaries.  The  hills  rise 
abruptly  300  to  400  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  Ascending  the 
Heart  Valley,  shale  and  sandstone  outcroppings  occur  in  the  sides  of  the 
drift-capped  hills.  Numerous  drift  boulders  lie  along  the  bottoms  and 
sides  of  the  coulees. 

SWEET  BRIAR. — 214.8  miles.     (161.4  miles.)     Altitude,  1,799  ^eet- 

T»he  railroad  passes  up  Sweet  Briar  Creek  from  the  valley  of  the 
•Heart  River.  A  shelf  of  sandstone  outcrops  along  the  north  side  of  the 
valley.  Where  the  side  of  the  valley  is  grown  over  with  grass  a  mark- 
on  the  hillside  shows  the  edge  of  the  sandstone  shelf.  Going  up  the 
valley  the  sandstone  layer  approaches  the  bottom,  and  other  layers  of 
rock  are  above.  The  layers  do  not  become  lower,  but  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  rises.  Farther  west  many  capped  buttes  are  observed,  and  the 
layer  of  hard  sandstone  which  caps  these  becomes  lower  in  relation  to 
the  surface,  and  finally  disappears  beneath  the  surface. 

JUDSON. — 220.5  miles.     (155.7  miles.)     Altitude,  1,948  feet. 

The  railroad  still  follows  the  branching  coulee,  not  yet  having  reached 
the  general  prairie  surface.  Many  boulders  lie  upon  the  surface,  and 
crags  of  sandstone  project  from  the  hills. 

NEW  SALEM. — 227.0  miles.  (149.2  miles.}  Altitude,  2,160  feet. 
Population,  229. 

Here  the  high  prairie  is  reached.  The  highest  peak,  which  stands  far 
above  the  surrounding  landscape,  shows  outcropping  horizontal  layers 
of  sandstone.  Some  idea  of  the  amount  of  earth  which  has  been  carried 
away  by  erosion  can  be  gained  from  this,  for  the  projecting  edges  of  this 
high  peak  are  part  of  the  horizontal  layers  which  once  extended  over 
the  whole  landscape,  and  have  been  all  carried  away  except  this.  Some 
of  this  rock  is  now  the  sand  along  the  valley  of  the  Missouri  River,  and 
some  has  been  carried  far  down  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  some 
may  be  resting  on  its  bottom.  Occasional  large  boulders  lie  upon  the 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC   LINES.  227 

surface,  but  most  of  the  finer  drift  materials  has  been  carried  away,  the 
boulders  remaining  because  too  heavy  to  be  transported. 

SIMS. — 234.2  miles.     (142.0  miles.)     Altitude,  1,959  ^eet- 

West  of  Sims  the  railroad  turns  abruptly  south  and  descends  a  coulee 
six  miles,  turning  again  to  traverse  another  valley  for  twenty  miles  to 
the  prairie  surface  west  of  Glen  Ullin.  About  Sims  are  some  small  hills 
of  drift  thickly  strewn  with  boulders,  the  last  drift  hills  and  large  boulders 
observed,  westward  bound.*  A  projecting  chimney  from  a  coal  mine 
shows  that  it  is  the  Laramie  formation  that  is  now  being  crossed,  a 
formation  which  lies  above  the  sandstones  and  shales  farther  east,  and 
in  which  are  the  North  Dakota  coal  beds. 

ALMONT. — 239.1  miles.     (136.3  miles.)     Altitude,  1,914  feet. 

North  of  railroad  a  fine  "park"  of  sandstone-capped  hills.  The 
lower  hills,  those  which  have  been  eroded  more,  are  rounded  at  their 
tops.  Farther  west  a  pretty  row  of  beehive-shaped  buttes,  tipped  with 
red  from  colored  sandstone  or  clay.  Two  high,  pointed  buttes,  the  first 
genuine  "Bad  Land"  buttes  observed.  Same  range  of  hills  becomes  grass- 
covered  farther  west,  as  the  valley  becomes  less  deep  and  less  erosion  has 
occurred. 

GLEN  ULLIN. — 265.6  miles.  (119.6  miles.)  Altitude,  2,067  ^eet- 
Population,  272. 

Low  flat  buttes  south.  Some  lofty  peaks  mark  the  higher  level  of  an 
older  landscape  which  has  been  mostly  carried  away.  Eagles  Nest  is  one 
of  these,  a  few  miles  west. 

HEBRON. — 269.1  miles.  (107.1  miles.)  Altitude,  2,157  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 182. 

East  of  Hebron  is  the  divide  between  streams  tributary  to  the  Big 
Muddy  and  the  Heart  on  the  south,  and  the  Knife  River  on  the  north. 
The  streams  have  not  yet  cut  deeply,  and  the  general  landscape  is  an 
expanse  of  grassy  prairie. 

;  ANTELOPE. — (Stark  County.)    278.5  miles.    (97.2  miles.)    Altitude, 
2,405  feet. 

The  railroad  here  runs  upon  the  divide  between  the  Heart  and  Knife 
Rivers.  Tributaries  from  both  these  rivers  push  up  upon  the  prairie. 
This  is  therefore  what  may  be  called  the  high  prairie.  North  of  the  rail- 
road stands  a  pointed  butte  with  naked  sides,  its  crest  reaching  far  above 
the  general  landscape.  Another  is  south  of  the  track,  thinly  covered  with 
grass.  These  isolated  peaks,  standing  alone  on  the  landscape,  their  tops 

*  See  footnote,  page  207. 


228  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

composed  of  horizontal  layers  of  sandstone,  show  that  a  vast  amount  of 
erosion  has  occurred,  for  once  the  layers  of  sandstone  were  continuous 
over  the  whole  region  and  the  general  level  of  the  landscape  was  above 
where  these  tops  now  are. 

TAYLOR. — 289.5  miles.     (86.7  miles.)     Altitude,  2,484  feet. 

Taylor  marks  the  highest  point  of  the  railroad  east  of  the  divide 
between  the  Heart  and  Little  Missouri  Rivers. 

GLADSTONE. — 297.2  miles.      (79.0  miles.)     Altitude,  2,345  feet. 

Well  marked  terraces  are  shown  along  the  streams  south  and  west 
from  the  railroad.  West  toward  Lehigh  two  naked  buttes  stand  south 
of  railroad.  One  is  nearly  "worn  out,"  being  a  mere  thumb  standing 
upon  the  prairie.  The  other  is  larger,  and  has  hard  sandstone  shelves 
projecting  from  its  sides  which  protect  it  from  so  rapidly  wearing  away. 
The  flat  tops  and  projecting  shoulders  of  many  buttes  are  thus  explained. 

LEHIGH. — 304.0  miles.     (72.2  miles.)     Altitude,  2,343  feet. 

The  extensive  Lehigh  Coal  Mines  on  south  side  railroad. 

Dickinson — 308.6  miles.  (67.6  miles.)  Altitude,  2,401  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 2,076. 

Three  broad  table  lands,  or  mesas,  covered  with  grass,  northeast. 
Northwest  of  the  city  the  small  hills  are  crested  with  sandstone  crags. 
High,  naked  buttes  south  in  distance. 

FRYBURG. —  (Billings  County.)  334.3  miles.  (41. 9  miles.)  Altitude, 
2,761  feet. 

Steadily  ascending  all  the  way  from  Mandan,  the  summit,  or  divide, 
between  the  Heart  and  Little  Missouri  Rivers  has  now  been  reached. 
Mandan  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  Heart  River,  with  an  altitude  of  1,644 
feet;  Fryburg  is  117  miles  (by  section  lines,  136  miles  by  rail)  west, 
with  an  altitude  of  2,761  feet,  or  1,116.  feet  higher.  Now,  in  a  distance 
of  twelve  miles  (by  section  lines,  fourteen  miles  by  rail)  a  fall  of  500 
feet  is  made  into  the  valley  of  the  Little  Missouri.  Then,  in  a  distance 
of  twenty  miles  the  ascent  is  made  to  the  high  prairie  again  through  a 
vertical  rise  of  750  feet  to  an  altitude  west  of  Sentinel  Butte  of  2,801 
feet.  Within  this  narrow  but  deep  valley  lies  the  famed  "Bad  Lands." 
And  this  deep  valley  is  at  once  the  cause  and  the  explanation  of  the  Bad 
Lands.  The  Little  Missouri  River  has  a  steep  bed,  and  it  therefore  cuts 
down  rapidly.  This  gives  to  its  inflowing  tributaries  a  high  gradient,  and 
these  in  turn  cut  their  channels  rapidly.  The  result  is  that  the  landscape 
along  the  course  of  the  Little  Missouri  is  deeply  intersected  by  streams. 
The  flat-topped  buttes  are  the  hills  which  have  not  yet  been  worn  away 


THE   NORTHERN   PACIFIC    LINKS.  229 

so  as  to  nqake  their  tops  round.  The  high  table  lands  are  fragments  of 
the  old  prairie  which  has  jpeen  thus  cut  up  by  the  streams.  The  hard 
sandstone  layers,  such  as  were  observed  in  the  journey  west  from  Man- 
dan,  give  to  the  hills  many  of  their  remarkable  features,  just  as  they  gave 
the  jutting  shoulders  and  projecting  crags  to  many  hills  along  the  Heart 
River. 

SULLY  SPRINGS. — 340.0  miles.   (36.2  miles.)     Altitude,  2,571  feet. 

Just  west  of  the  station  the  railroad  passes  through  the  Petrified 
Forest.  No  shade  is  afforded  by  this  "forest,"  and  the  trees  have  long 
since  ceased  to  shed  their  leaves!  These  ancient  monarchs  of  a  "dead 
past,"  these  giants  whose  branches  once  wafted  in  the  breezes  of  the 
Cretaceous  Age,  have  fallen,  and  their  immense  trunks  now  strew  the 
ground.  The  stumps  on  which  they  grew  still  stand,  buried  in  the  rocky 
soil  in  which  they  grew,  mutely  testifying  to  a  glory  long  past, — of  a 
"forest  primeval."  Truly  it  may  be  said: 

"This  was  the  forest  primeval.     The  murmuring  pines  and  the 

hemlocks, 
Bearded    with  moss,    and  in   garments   green,    distinct  in  the 

twilight, 

Stood  like  Druids  of  old,  with  voices  sad  and  prophetic, 
Stood  like  harpers  hoar,  with  beards  that  rest  on  their  bosoms. 
Loud  from  its  rocky  caverns,  the  deep-voiced  neighboring  ocean 
Spoke,  and  in  accents  disconsolate  .answered  the  wail  of  the 

forest ! 
Filled  was  the  air  with  a  dreamy  and  magical  light;  and  the 

landscape 
Lay  as  if  new-created  in  all  the  freshness  of  childhood." 

But  this  was  long,  long  ago.  What  we  see  is  the  tomb  in  which  the 
"Forest  Primeval"  was  buried,  the  strata  of  rock  which  were  deposited 
over  them,  and  which  have  in  later  time  been  removed  by  erosion.  On 
both  sides  of  the  railroad  many  stumps  stand  where  they  grew.  Immense 
logs  four  feet  in  diameter  lie  near  the  track.  Pyramid  Park  lies  to  the 
left  (south),  a  magnificent  view.  Pyramid  shaped  buttes,  large  and  small, 
white,  naked  walls  of  rock,  flat  topped  tables  and  smaller  rounded  cones. 
Descending  the  valley  the  buttes  become  red  on  their  crests,  capped  with 
lava.  Rough  crags  of  scoriaceous  rock  project  from  many  sides.  At 
Scoria  the  buttes  appear  as  though  dyed  in  blood.  The  small  stream. 
Sully's  Creek,  has  cut  down  through  a  lava  bed  which  was  spread  over 
the  ancient  sea-bottom  which  was  here  "before  ever  the  hills  were 
formed." 


230  THE   STORY   OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

Medora. — 348.2  miles.      (27.5  miles.)     Altitude,  2,261  feet. 

Medora  lies  in  the  "heart  of  the  Bad  Lands."  The  nearly  perpen- 
dicular walls  of  rock  rise  400  feet  from  the  Little  Missouri  River  to  their 
tops,  which  represent  the  prairie  level.  The  horizontal  strata  of  the 
Cretaceous  rocks  are  magnificently  exposed  to  view.  Sandstone,  clay, 
shale,  and  lignite  coal  lie  in  alternate  bands  from  base  to  top  of  the  buttes. 

SENTINEL  BUTTE. — 365.8  miles.  (11.4  miles.)  Altitude,  2,703 
feet. 

After  crossing  the  river  the  railroad  follows  down  its  west  bank  to 
the  mouth  of  Andrew's  Creek,  up  which  it  passes  to  the  high  prairie. 
High  rugged  buttes  rise  steep  on  either  side  the  narrow  deep  valley.  A 
fine  view  of  a  group  of  haystack-shaped  buttes  is  obtained  from  the  north 
window,  several  miles  west.  Sentinel  Butte  stands  high  above  the  sur- 
rounding prairie  six  miles  south  of  the  station.  The  top  of  this  butte  is 
said  to  be  the  highest  point  in  North  Dakota.  The  butte  gets  its  name 
from  a  pathetic  incident  in  the  campaign  of  the  lamented  General  Custer 
against  Sitting  Bull,  in  1876.  The  "pass"  through  the  top,  which  may 
t>e  seen  from  east  of  the  station,  was  guarded  by  two  soldiers  during  a 
night  when  it  was  anticipated  an  attack  might  be  made  by  the  Indians 
upon  the  army  encamped  upon  the  plain  north  of  the  butte.  In  the  morn- 
ing when  relief  was  sent  to  the  guards  their  bodies  were  found  pierced 
with  arrows.  Their  bodies  were  buried  one  on  either  side  of  the  pass 
they  had  guarded,  and  their  graves  are  marked  by  two  large  piles  of 
stones. 

STATE  LINE. — 376.2  miles.    Altitude,  2,811  feet. 

The  highest  point  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  in  North  Dakota 
is  reached  at  the  instant  of  crossing  the  State  line  into  Montana.  The 
western  boundary  is  almost  exactly  on  the  watershed,  or  divide,  between 
the  Little  Missouri  and  Beaver  Creek,  the  railroad  then  descending  to  the 
valley  of  the  Yellowstone. 

**#***#*##* 

FARGO  SOUTHWESTERN  LINE. 

Fargo — (See  p.  218.) 

The  railroad  crosses  the  level  plain  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz  for 
twenty-five  miles. 

LEONARD. — Distance  from  Fargo,  28.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,052  feet. 

The  railroad  here  passes  from  the  level  lake  bottom  upon  the  plateau 
of  the  Sheyenne  Delta,  rising  more  than  eighty  feet  in  a  distance  of  two 
miles,  and  crossing  the  McCauleyville,  Campbell  and  Tintah  Beaches  of 


THE   NORTHERN   PACIFIC    LINES.  231 

Lake  Agassiz,  which  extend  along  the  delta  front.  South  the  delta  sand 
is  in  places  piled  into  dunes  by  the  action  of  the  wind. 

SHELDON. —  (Ransom  County.)  40.5  miles.  Altitude,  1,079  ^ee^- 
Population,  318. 

Surface  of  the  delta  slightly  undulating.  The  sand  is  piled  into  dunes, 
notably  south.  The  western  edge  of  the  delta,  and  of  the  lake,  is  at 
Sheldon.  The  change  in  the  landscape  is  at  once  seen  toward  the  west, 
where  the  hills  become  the  familiar  drift  hills,  with  occasional  high  knobs. 

Lisbon — 55.3  miles.     Altitude,  1,089  ^eet-     Population,  1,046. 

Deep  valley  of  the  Sheyenne  River.  A  well  marked  broad  terrace  of 
the  larger  glacial  river  on  west  side  of  valley.  Suburbs  of  the  city  built 
upon  its  top.  Terrace  seen  also  north  of  the  city  on  east  side  of  valley, 
from  west.  The  Dovre  Moraine  lies  along  the  western  bluffs  of  the  river. 
A  cut  in  the  gravelly  terrace  west  of  the  city  shows  finely  stratified  sands. 
From  the  prairie  west  of  the  valley  the  broad  outlines  of  White  Stone 
Hill  may  be  seen  eight  miles  south.  This  is  a  pre-glacial  hill  rising  150 
feet  above  the  prairie  and  veneered  with  drift. 

ELLIOTT. — 62.8  miles.     Altitude,  1,330  feet. 

West  of  Elliott  is  another  pre-glacial  hill  rising  about  sixty  feet. 

ENGLEVALE. — 67.7  miles.    Altitude,  1,342  feet. 

An  old  channel  about  three  miles  in  width,  having  a  flat  bottom,  was 
occupied  by  the  Sheyenne  River  when  that  stream  discharged  into  Lake 
Sargent.  A  deeper  part  of  the  channel  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  west 
of  Englevale  is  known  as  the  Big  Slough.  When  the  glacial  Sheyenne 
River  flowed  here  the  ice  of  the  great  Ice-Sheet  had  not  melted  off  from 
the  region  about  Lisbon,  and  the  Dovre  Moraine  west  of  Lisbon  was 
being  formed. 

VEROXA. — (LaMoure  County.)     75.6  miles.     Altitude,   1,385  feet. 

Between  the  channel  of  the  glacial  Sheyenne  River  and  Verona  the 
Waconia,  or  Sixth,  Moraine  is  crossed. 

LaMoure — 87.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,308  feet.     Population,  457. 

The  city  lies  in  the  broad  valley  of  the  James  River.  Terraces  occur 
along  the  west  side  of  the  valley.  Fine  undulating  prairie  west  of  the 
valley. 

BERLIN. — 97.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,469  feet. 

That  trees  can  be  successfully  grown  on  these  prairies  is  proven  by 
a  fine  grove  of  cultivated  trees  at  Berlin.  Good  farm  buildings  bespeak 
the  thrift  of  the  farmers  in  this  section.  In  the  distance  along  the  western 
horizon  rises  the  blue  outline  of  the  great  plateau,  the  Coteau  du  Missouri. 


232  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

EDGELEY. — 108.5  miles.     Altitude,  1,567  feet.     Population,  306. 

The  Coteau  highland  rises  eight  to  ten  miles  west.  East  of  Edgeley 
the  hills  of  the  Antelope,  or  Third  Moraine  are  crossed.  Drift  hills  also 
occur  along  the  foot  of  the  plateau  west. 

MONANGO. —  (Dickey  County.)  C,  M.  &  St.  P.  Railway.  122.6 
miles.  Altitude,  1,501  feet. 

Low  round  hills  and  hollows  of  the  Antelope  Moraine  crossed  near 
Monango.  Crossing  Bismarck  Branch  of  Soo  Railway. 

Ellendale — 135.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,446  feet.     Population,  750. 

Low  rolling  hills  of  the  Antelope  Moraine  six  miles  west.  In  the 
distance  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  west  the  highland  of  the  Coteau  du 
Missouri  rises  suddenly  to  an  elevation  of  more  than  2,000  feet.  All 
about  Ellendale,  and  east  and  south  is  a  fine  farming  section. 


CHAPTER  THE  TWENTY-THIRD. 
GEOLOGY  FROM  A  CAR  WINDOW— THE    SOO  LINE. 

FAIRMOUNT. —  (Richland  County.)  Distance  from  St.  Paul,  201.3 
miles.  (Distance  east  of  Portal,  359.0  miles.)  Altitude,  983  feet. 
Population,  284. 

The  Soo  Line  enters  North  Dakota  at  Fairmount,  in  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  State,  and  passes  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  crossing  the 
International  Boundary  at  Portal.  Fairmount  is  located  a  mile  and  a 
half  west  of  the  Bois  des  Sioux  River,  on  the  level  axis-plain  of  Lake 
Agassiz. 

OSWALD. — Distance  from  Fairmount,  5.8  miles.  (Distance  east  of 
Portal,  353.2  miles.)  Altitude,  987  feet. 

Level  prairie  from  Fairmount  westward,  but  now  begins  to  be  slightly 
undulating,  and  soon  broken  into  short,  choppy  sand  billows,  the  wind 
blown  sands  of  the  Sheyenne  Delta. 

HANKINSON. — 14.5  miles.  (344.5  miles.)  Altitude,  1,068  feet. 
Population,  713. 

Rising  conspicuously  from  the  prairie  south  of  Hankinson  stands  a 
large  dune  150  feet  high,  covered  scatteringly  with  trees,  known  as 
Lightning's  Nest.  A  tract  of  dunes  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  high  and 
mostly  covered  with  grass  extends  to  the  northwest.  Lightning's  Nest 
has  been  built  up  from  the  sands  of  the  Herman  Shore-Line,  where  it 
crosses  the  Sheyenne  Delta.  The  Norcross  Beach  passes  close  east  of 
Hankinson  as  a  well  defined  sand  ridge.  The  hills  of  the  Dovre  Moraine 
are  a  prominent  range  south  and  west. 

MANTADOR. — 22.0  miles.     (337.0  miles.)     Altitude,  1,027  ^eet- 

The  railroad  crosses'  the  tract  of  dunes  which  extends  from  Light- 
ning's Nest.  Beyond  the  dune  tract  fine  level  prairie.  Wild  Rice  River 
is  crossed  north  of  the  dune  tract. 

WYNDMERE. — 31.9  miles.     (327.1  miles.)     Altitude,  1,060  feet. 

Fine  level  prairie  about  Wyndmere  and  south.     North  the  surface  is 


234  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

broken  into  swells  and  hollows  of  wind-blown  sand.  Farther  north  still 
the  knolls  become  sharper  in  outline  and  the  road-bed  cuts  through  them, 
showing  the  white  delta  and  beach  sand  of  which  they  are  composed. 
For  forty-five  miles  from  Hankinson  to  Anselm  the  Soo  Road  passes 
over  the  delta  plain  of  the  glacial  Sheyenne  River.  The  sand  of  this  delta 
is  piled  by  the  wind  into  knolls  often  fifty  feet  high,  and  this  gives  the 
landscape  its  peculiar  appearance.  Nothing  but  wind-blown  sand  could 
form  hills  such  as  these.  Where  the  surface  does  not  become  grass- 
covered,  the  sand  .drifts  precisely  as  does  dry  snow,  the  hills  slowly  travel- 
ing across  the  plain  as  the  sand  is  continually  carried  up  over  the  crests 
of  the  hills  and  falls  down  the  other  side. 

SANDOUN. —  (Ransom  County.)  44.2  miles.  (314.8  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,074  feet. 

Billowy  dunes  rise  ten  to  fifty  feet  or  more,  the  hollows  between  being 
often  filled  with  water.  Hills  mostly  thinly  covered  with  grass. 

VENLO. — 53.8  miles.     (305.2  miles.)    Altitude,  1,062  feet. 

The  Sheyenne  River,  which  runs  at  the  west  side  of  the  Sheyenne 
Delta,  is  crossed  between  this  and  the  next  station.  The  Herman  Beach, 
the  highest  shore-line  of  Lake  Agassiz,  is  a  little  south  of  the  River,  but 
is  so  much  broken  up  that  it  is  not  easily  recognized.  The  Big  Bend  of 
the  Sheyenne,  ten  miles  south,  marks  the  place  where  the  great  glacial 
river  discharged  into  Lake  Agassiz  at  the  time  the  large  delta  was  built. 

ANSELM. — 57.6  miles.     (301.4  miles.)     Altitude,  1,085  ^eet- 

Cuts  in  the  valley  side  made  in  grading  the  railroad  show  the  strati- 
fied sands  and  gravel  of  the  delta.  High  dunes  rise  in  the  distance  east. 
Anselm  is  just  off  from  the  delta  plain,  and  the  different  aspect  of  the 
landscape  is  at  once  apparent.  The  prairie  becomes  gently  rolling  with 
occasional  high  round  knobs,  morainic  hills.  There  are  no  hills  of  this 
character,  no  morainic  "knobs,"  on  the  area  covered  by  Lake  Agassiz, 
which  is  what  is  known  as  the  "Red  River  Valley." 

ENDERLIN. — 66.1  miles.  (292.9  miles.)  Altitude,  1,082  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 636. 

Enderlin  is  situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Maple  River,  here  a  'deep 
glacial  valley  such  as  the  Sheyenne.  Fine  prairie  north  to  Lucca  and 
Fingal. 

FINGAL. —  (Barnes  County.)  79.2  miles.  (279.8  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,277  feet-  Population,  376. 

The  rapid  rise  in  elevation  here  is  due  to  the  railroad  passing  upon 


THE   SOO   LINE.  235 

the  Manitoba  Escarpment,  the  highland  which  formed  the  western  side 
of  the  pre-glacial  Red  River  Valley. 

CUBA. — 84.8  miles.     (274.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,352  feet. 

The  hills  of  the  southern  loop  of  the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine  appear  in 
the  east  and  north. 

LANONA. — 90.9  miles.     (268.1  miles.)     Altitude,  1,387  feet. 

Knobs  and  irregularly-shaped  hills  of  the  Fergus  Falls  Moraine. 

Valley  City — 95.8  miles.  (263.2  miles.)  Altitude,  1,227  feet. 
Population,  2,446. 

Valley  City  is  located  in  the  broad  and  deep  valley  of  the  Sheyenne. 
The  station  is  two  miles  north  of  the  city.  The  hills  which  form  the  sides 
of  the  valley  rise  150  to  200  feet.  Much  of  the  material  which  was  eroded 
by  the  great  glacial  stream  which  cut  this  large  valley  makes  up  the  delta 
plateau  which  has  just  been  crossed.  (See  p.  219.) 

ROGERS. — 109.5  miles.     (249-5  miles.)     Altitude,  1,422  feet. 

The  railroad  ascends  by  a  narrow,  crooked,  deep,  and  boulder-strewn 
coulee  nine  miles  to  the  beautiful  level  prairie  about  Rogers.  A  rise  of 
nearly  200  feet  has  been  made  in  this  distance.  Blue  shale  is  exposed 
in  many  cuts. 

LEAL. — 115.4  miles.     (243.6  miles.)     Altitude,  1,465  feet. 

Morainic  hills  of  the  Waconia,  or  Sixth,  Moraine. 

WIMBLEDON. — 123.6  miles.  (235.4  miles.)  Altitude,  1,468  feet. 
Population,  226. 

Fine  level  tract  of  prairie  lying  between  the  Wacqnia  Moraine,  which 
is  seen  in  the  distance  to  the  east,  and  the  Elysian,  or  Fifth,  Moraine,  the 
low  swells  of  which  are  seen  here.  Shallow  lakes  occupy  many  hollows. 

COURTNEY. —  (Stutsman  County),  129.8  miles.  (229.2  miles.) 
Altitude,  1,523  feet.  Population,  346. 

Broad  tract  of  prairie  again,  between  the  Elysian  and  Kiester,  or 
Fourth,  Moraines.  Many  boulders  strew  the  prairies,  and  shallow  lakes 
without  outlets  show  that  as  yet  drainage  systems  have  not  become 
established. 

KEXSAL. — 139.4  miles.     (219.6  miles.)     Altitude,  1,541  feet. 

Kensal  is  situated  among  the  hills  of  the  well-marked  Elysian  Mo- 
raine. From  here  the  railroad  descends  to  the  Valley  of  the  James 
River.  The  course  of  the  river  for  more  than  twenty  miles  lies  amid 
the  hills  of  the  Kiester  Moraine,  the  hills  and  the  river  seeming  to  be 
in  a  struggle  for  the  mastery!  South  of  the  railroad  bridge  the  river 
broadens  out  to  form  Arrowood  Lake,  the  valley  being  blocked  by  the 


236  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

drift,  which  nearly  fills  it.  North  of  the  bridge  the  river  is  a  broad, 
sluggish,  pooling,  lake-like  stream.  Fine  examples  of  morainic  hills 
are  here  displayed.  Some  high  knobs  of  this  moraine  are  nearly  200  feet 
high.  Upon  rising  from  the  Valley  of  the  James  the  great  Missouri 
Plateau,  the  Coteau  du  Missouri,  appears  in  the  distance  west  about 
twenty  miles. 

BORDULAC. — (Foster  County),  152.4  miles.  (206.6  miles.)  Alti- 
tude, 1,530  feet. 

Low  morainic  hills  of  the  Kiester  Moraine  in  distance  east.  Lakes 
George  and  Bordulac  are  broad  shallow  glacial  pans,  their  waters 
hemmed  in  by  low  morainic  hills. 

Carrington — 161.1  miles.  (197.9  miles.)  Altitude,  1,579  feet. 
Population,  1,150. 

The  Soo  Railway  passes  through  a  fine  tract  of  farming  country  in 
Foster  and  Wells  Counties,  along  the  upper  James  and  Sheyenne  Rivers. 
The  highland  of  the  Missouri  Plateau  rises  thirty  miles  west.  In  the 
distance  to  the  east  the  high  knobs  of  the  Kiester  Moraine  can  be  seen, 
fifteen  miles  away.  Hawk's  Nest,  an  outlying  fragment  of  the  great 
plateau,  stands  fifteen  miles  southwest.  It  is  a  high  drift-covered  pinnacle 
of  the  old  landscape  before  the  Ice  Age. 

LEMERT. — 168.8  miles.     (190.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,594  feet. 

Small  ranges  of  low  morainic  hills  cross  the  broad  prairies. 
Many  large  granite  boulders  are  strewn  along  the  track  between 
Lemert  and  Cathay.  It  is  noticeable  that  many  of  these  have  one  side 
planed  off  smooth  and  flat.  When  examined  closely  many  of  these  flat 
surfaces  are  found  to  be  marked  with  parallel  lines,  or  striations.  This 
shows  that  they  have  been  carried  long  distances,  and  planed  off  in  the 
process  of  being  shoved  over  hard  surfaces. 

CATHAY. — (Wells  County),  176.2  miles.  (182.8  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,584  feet. 

Beautifully  undulating  and  rolling  crest  of  the  moraine  which  was 
noticed  west  of  Carrington  now  plainly  in  view  west. 

EMRICK. — 181.6  miles.     (177.2  miles.)     Altitude,  1,597  feet. 

Morainic  ridges  west,  probably  belonging  to  the  Antelope,  or  Third, 
Moraine. 

Fessenden — 188.6  miles.  (170.4  miles.)  Altitude,  1,610  feet. 
Altitude  James  River,  low  water,  1,591  feet.  Population,  637. 

Low  morainic  ridges  south  and  west,  well  defined.  Occasional  hum- 
mocky  knobs,  such-  as  are  characteristic  of  terminal  moraines.  The  mo- 


THE   SOO   LINE.  237 

raine  which  was  crossed  at  the  James  River,  and  which  filled  its  valley, 
is  still  seen  in  the  east  and  north  from  about  Fessenden. 

MANFRED. — 195.0  miles.    (164.0  miles.)    Altitude,  1,605  feet. 

A  prominent  cluster  of  hills  west,  a  morainic  heap,  the  crests  of  the 
ridges  giving  the  moraine  a  rugged  appearance.  A  small  "glacial  lake" 
hemmed  in  by  the  hills  lies  close  north. 

HARVEY. — 205.0  miles.  ( 154.0  miles.)  Altitude,  1,596  feet.  Shey- 
enne  River,  low  water,  1,527  feet.  Population,  590. 

Low  water  of  the  Sheyenne  is  sixty-nine  feet  below  the  prairie  sur- 
face, while  that  of  the  James,  less  than  ten  miles  south,  is  only  nineteen 
feet.  The  Sheyenne  is  thus  shown  to  have  been  the  great  avenue  of 
escape  for  the  waters  of  the  melting  ice-sheet,  from  this  portion  of  the 
State.  Moraine  with  high  rugged  hills  west.  Moraine  also  east  in  dis- 
tance. Fine  tract  of  prairie  intervening  between. 

ANAMOOSE. —  (McHenry  County),  221.5  miles.  (137.5  miles.)  Al- 
titude, 1,620  feet.  Population,  430. 

Approaching  Anamoose  high  and  rugged  moraines 'lie  on  both  sides 
of  the  railroad.  A  lake  hemmed  in  by  the  hills  south.  High  knobs 
mark  the  surrounding  hills.  West  of  Anamoose,  east  of  the  railroad,  is 
a  large  valley  having  distinct  terraces  on  its  sides,  and  a  broad,  flat 
bottom,  with  no  stream  upon  it,  and  many  boulders  scattered  upon  the 
terraces.  Such  a  deep  and  well-defined  valley,  having  no  stream  on  its 
bottom,  and  having  well  marked  terraces,  shows  by  its  form  that  it  is 
the  channel  of  a  glacial  stream,  a  stream  which  ceased  when  the  waters 
from  the  melting  ice-sheet  had  disappeared,  and  the  terraces  mark  the 
flood-plain  of  the  stream  during  its  earlier  stages,  before  its  channel  had 
been  cut  down  to  the  present  bottom. 

Still  further  west  the  railroad  runs  upon  the  bottom  of  a  broad  level 
channel,  having  extensive  hay  meadows  and  shallow  lakes  along  its 
course.  A  dry  lake  southwest  from  Balfour  lies  in  this  channel,  which 
is  the  old  southern  outlet  of  Lake  Souris,  at  an  earlier  stage  than  that 
when  its  waters  escaped  to  the  Sheyenne  by  the  Big  Coulee  outlet. 

BALFOUR. — 236.1  miles.     (122.9  miles.)     Altitude,  1,613  ^eet- 

A  few  rods  west  of  the  station  the  track  crosses  the  famous  "Balfour 
Ridge,"  a  beach  of  gravel  and  sand,  which  extends  from  two  to  three 
miles  south  of  Balfour,  north  by  northwest  for  about  fifteen  miles,  to 
the  Mouse  River,  at  Pendroy.  Where  the  railroad  crosses  it  a  section 
showing  the  sand  and  gravel  in  layers  is  exposed.  The  ridge  rises  six  to 
eight  feet  above  the  prairie  at  its  southern  end,  and  becomes  gradually 

16 


238  THE   STORY   OF   THE   PRAIRIES. 

higher  toward  the  north.  It  is  about  thirty  feet  high  at  its  northern 
end.  The  smooth  and  uniform  surface  and  sloping  sides,  about  equal  in 
height,  make  it  appear  much  like  a  railroad  grading,  and  it  has  been 
surveyed  and  set  apart  for  use  as  a  public  highway.  The  level  crest  of 
the  ridge  can  be  seen  from  the  east  window  for  some  distance  west  of 
Balfour.  Southwest  of  Balfour  about  twenty  miles  rises  the  blue  and 
hazy  head  of  Dog  Den  Butte.  This  is  a  large  outlying  hill  of  the  Mis- 
souri Plateau.  Its  crest  is  crossed  by  several  morainic  ridges,  and  small 
lakes  are  on  its  top.  The  low  and  level  prairie  east  of  Dog  Den  is 
known  as  the  "alkali  flats."  Many  shallow  alkaline  lakes  with  shores  of 
white  sand  lie  along  the  tract. 

VOLTAIRE. — 251.3  miles.      (107.7  miles.)     Altitude,  1,587  feet. 

Westward  from  Balfour  the  old  outlet  channel  of  Lake  Souris  is  a 
mile  or  more  in  width,  seen  west  of  the  railroad.  Extensive  hay-meadows 
lie  upon  its  bottom.  From  Voltaire  the  railroad  descends  to  the  Mouse 
River  "bottoms"  by  the  steep,  sharp  valley  of  Spring  Creek.  This  coulee 
is  a  notch  or  channel  cut  in  the  bottom  of  the  old  outlet  channel  since 
the  waters  of  Lake  Souris  disappeared. 

VELVA. — 256.3  miles.     (102.7  miles.)    Altitude,  1,525  feet. 

West  of  Velva  deep  coulees  with  steep  sides  border  the  valley  of  the 
Mouse.  The  highland  along  the  valley  on  the  west  was  the  shore  of 
Lake  Souris. 

Minot — (Ward  County),  277.4  miles.  (81.6  miles.)  Altitude, 
1,557  feet-  Population,  1,277. 

The  valley  of  the  Mouse  is  a  great  trough  eroded  by  a  great  glacial 
river,  its  bottom  being  one  to  two  miles  across,  and  the  hills  forming 
the  sides  of  the  valley  rising  1 50  to  200  feet  above  the  flat  bottom.  The 
sides  of  the  valley  are  beautifully  serrated  by  little  coulees,  as  though  a 
giant  hand  had  drawn  a  coarse  comb  across  the  hillsides  and  made  the 
little  furrows,  or  coulees.  (See  p.  206.) 

BURLINGTON. — 285.2  miles.     (73.8  miles.),   Altitude,  1,590  feet. 

Here  is  the  point  of  meeting  of  the  Des  Lacs  and  Mouse  Rivers,  both 
of  which  flow  in  large  glacial  valleys.  The  Soo  Road  follows  the  course 
of  the  Des  Lacs  Valley,  traversing  the  bottom  of  the  valley  more  than 
forty  miles.  The  valley  was  eroded  by  the  glacial  flood  waters  deeply 
into  tlie  shales  which  underlie  the  drift.  Coal  mines  are  opened  by  tun- 
neling from  the  hillsides  along  the  valley.  The  Burlington  mines  are 
extensively  operated.  (See  Fig.  71,  p.  167.) 

FOXHOLM. — 295.2  miles.     (63. 8  miles.)    Altitude,  1,657  feet. 


THE   SOO    LINE.  239 

Fine  examples  of  terraces,  marking  the  flood  plain  of  the  river  at  an 
earlier  time  before  its  valley  had  been  eroded  to  the  present  bottom.  One 
such  terrace  plateau  lies  on  the  east  side  of  the  railroad  west  of  Burling- 
ton, rising  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  above  the  railroad  grade.  It  is  almost  per- 
fectly flat  on  top,  and  strewn  with  many  boulders.  West  of  Foxholm 
another  fragment  of  the  older  flood  plain  occurs,  about  ten  feet  high. 
Approaching  Carpio,  the  terrace  is  well  developed  on  west  side  of  valley. 

CARPIO. — 306.6  miles.     (55.4  miles.)     Altitude,  1,696  feet. 

Layers  of  brown  sandstone  outcrop  in  the  sides  of  the  high  banks 
west.  Black  layers  indicate  lignite  coal  in  thin  seams.  Nearing  Donny- 
brook  are  seen  fine  examples  of  "alluvial  fans,"  soil  carried  down  to  the 
valley  bottom  by  streams  flowing  in  the  steep  coulees  and  spreading  out 
upon  the  flat  plain. 

DONNYBROOK. — 3i2.7miles.     (46.3  miles.)     Altitude,  1,760  feet. 

The  town  stands  upon  one  of  the  alluvial  fans  just  mentioned.  On 
the  west  side  of  the  valley,  where  two  coulees  enter,  a  butte  has  been 
formed,  its  sides  steep,  its  top  flat.  Sandstone  and  clay  are  exposed  in 
horizontal  layers  on  the  south  and  east  sides.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
valley  opposite  Donnybrook  a  line  may  be  traced  along  the  side  of  the 
valley  about  half  way  to  the  top  of  the  hillside,  by  the  difference  in  the 
vegetation  above  and  below  the  line.  This  marks  the  depth  of  the  drift 
which  overlies  the  sandstones  and  shales  which  are  the  "bed  rock."  The 
Des  Lacs  River  is  a  very  small  stream,  little  more  than  a  meadow  ditch 
which  a  small  boy  could  jump  across.  Its  course  is  very  crooked,  show- 
ing that  it  flows  very  slowly.  Such  is  the  modern  representative  of  the 
great  glacial  stream  which  carved  the  deep  broad  valley  on  the  flat  bottom 
of  which  this  tiny  rivulet  now  meanders.  The  bottom  of  the  Des  Lacs 
valley  in  the  upper  half  of  its  course  is  covered  by  a  series  of  lakes. 
These  are  there  simply  because  there  is  not  enough  fall  to  the  bottom  of 
the  valley  to  cause  the  water  to  run.  The  first  of  these  lakes  is  a  pretty 
sheet  extending  from  one  side  of  the  valley  to  the  other  and  about  two 
miles  long,  lying  about  eight  miles  west  of  Donnybrook. 

KENMARE. — 327.4  miles.  (31. 6  miles.)  Altitude,  1,799  feet.  Alti- 
tude, low  water,  Des  Lacs  Lake,  1,783  feet.  Altitude,  top  of  hill  adjoin- 
ing, 1,950  feet.  Population,  30x3. 

Kenmare  stands  upon  the  hillside  overlooking  the  second  lake.  The 
lake  covers  the  entire  width  of  the  valley  bottom  so  that  the  shores  come 
down  abruptly  to  the  water's  edge.  A  hay-meadow  lies  upon  the  valley 
bottom  between  the  second  and  third  lakes,  the  latter  being  a  long  ribbon 


240  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

of  water  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  width,  and  extending  along  the  valley 
bottom  thirty  miles  to  the  International  Boundary.  Along  the  sides  of 
the  valley  at  Kenmare  are  the  machinery  and  tracks,  and  the  openings  to 
the  very  extensive  coal  mines  for  which  Kenmare  and  the  State  of  North 
Dakota  are  noted.  Sandstone  rock  suitable  .  for  building  purposes  is 
obtained  from  the  hillsides,  evidences  of  which  are  seen  in  the  substantial 
buildings  constructed  from  this  stone  in  the  city  of  Kenmare.  West  of 
Kenmare  the  railroad  leaves  the  Des  Lacs  valley,  laboriously  climbing  up 
the  side  of  the  valley  and  emerging  upon  the  beautiful  level  prairie.  At 
once  the  lake  has  disappeared  from  sight,  for  the  eye  scans  the  prairie 
only  to  look  directly  across  the  valley,  which  lies  entirely  below  the  gen- 
eral prairie  level,  a  deep  flat  bottomed  trough  cut  in  the  great  plain.  If 
any  further  proof  were  needed  that  this  is  a  valley  of  glacial  erosion  this 
would  serve  the  purpose,  for  the  country  along  the  stream  course  would 
be  cut  into  hills  if  the  valley  had  been  cut  by  the  ordinary  development  of 
a  drainage  system. 

BOWBELLS. — 339.6  miles.  (19.4  miles.)  Altitude,  1,958  feet.  Pop- 
ulation, 398. 

A  splendid  prairie,  unbroken  by  any  coulee  or  mark  of  drainage.  The 
horizon  line  in  the  east  is  a  straight  line  unbroken  by  any  hill  or  eleva- 
tion. In  the  west,  twenty  miles  away,  rises  the  highland  of  the  great 
Coteau  du  Missouri.  The  horizon  line  in  the  west  is  rendered  undulating 
and  wavy  by  the  knobs  and  ridges  of  the  Altamont,  or  First,  Moraine, 
which  lies  along  the  plateau  top. 

FLAXTON. — 349.3  mile's.     (9.7  miles.)     Altitude,  1,956  feet. 

Between  Bowbells  and  Flaxton  the  railroad  crosses  a  low  belt  of 
morainic  hills,  which  give  to  the  prairie  a  gently  rolling  aspect.  A  long 
slough,  a  lake  during  very  wet  seasons,  a  fine  hay-meadow  usually,  has 
been  a  lake,  the  waves  of  which  have  beaten  upon  the  shores  forming  a 
wave-cut  terrace  along  its  border.  It  is  a  relic  of  the  flood  waters  from 
the  melting  ice-sheet. 

PORTAL. — 359.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,954  feet. 

Portal,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  the  "gate  city,"  standing  upon  the 
International  Boundary  between  North  Dakota  and  Assiniboia.  A  range 
•of  sandy  morainic  hills  is  crossed  by  the  railroad  just  as  it  passes  into 
Canada.  Extending  far  south  is  a  fine  tract  of  prairie.  The  "Hills," 
the  great  Missouri  Plateau,  rise  majestically  against  the  sky  twenty 
miles  distant  in  the  west. 


THE   SOO   LINE.  241 

BISMARCK  EXTENSION 

HANKINSON. —  (Richland  County),  14.5  miles  from  Fairmount. 

LIDGERWOOD. — 26.6  miles.     Altitude,   1,090  feet.     Population,  585. 

About  four  miles  west  of  Hankinson  is  the  Herman  Shore-Line  of 
Lake  Agassiz.  Three  miles  southwest  the  hills  of  the  Dovre  Moraine 
are  100  to  150  feet  high.  This  moraine  lies  south  of  the  railroad  about 
two  miles  and  parallel  with  it  for  nearly  twenty-five  miles.  The  Herman 
Beach  is  about  six  miles  north  of  Lidgerwood.  On  the  broad  flat  prairie 
between  the  moraine  on  the  south  and  the  Herman  Shore  north  are  many 
broad  shallow  lakes. 

RANSOM. —  (Sargent  County),  38.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,128  feet. 

Cross  the  Wild  Rice  River.  The  Dovre  Moraine  is  here  crossed  by 
the  railroad,  a  belt  of  rolling  hills  about  a  mile  wide.  Many  granite 
boulders  occur  scattered  upon  the  prairie  east  and  west  of  the  moraine. 
On  the  western  side  of  the  moraine  was  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Sar- 
gent. (See  p.  117.) 

Forman — 49.7  miles.     Altitude,  1,247  fe6*-     Population,  257.    . 

At  Forman  the  depth  of  the  water  of  Lake  Sargent  was  about  fifty 
feet.  At  Perry,  six  miles  east,  it  was  about  100  feet,  and  along  the  east- 
ern side  of  the  lake  near  the  Dovre  Moraine,  about  150  feet.  Many 
boulders  are  scattered  upon  these  prairies. 

NICHOLSON. — 61.3  miles.    Altitude,  1,305  feet. 

Nicholson  is  near  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Sargent.  To  the  north 
is  a  hill  two  to  three  miles  long,  north  and  south,  covered  with  a  smooth 
veneering  of  drift,  a  pre-glacial  hill.  Westward  from  Nicholson  the 
railroad  crosses  a  belt  of  morainic  hills  about  six  miles  in  width,  a  com- 
pound moraine  representing  the  Waconia,  Elysian,  and  Kiester  Moraines. 

OAKES. —  (Dickey  County),  72.6  miles.  Altitude,  1,320  feet.  Popu- 
lation, 668. 

-  West  of  the  compound  moraine  mentioned  the  northern  end  of  the 
plain  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Dakota  is  crossed,  here  about  six  miles  in 
width. The  James  River  flows  south  across  this  old  lake  bottom.  (P.  1 16.) 

MERRICOURT. — 106.3  miles.    Altitude,  1,644  ^eet- 

Near  the  crossing  of  the  C,  M.  &  St.  P.  Railway,  ten  miles  east,  a 
low  range  of  hills,  the  Antelope  Moraine,  is  crossed.  The  landscape 
rises  quite  rapidly  here  toward  the  top  of  the  great  Plateau,  the  Coteau  du 
Missouri.  Low.  long,  undulating  and  rolling  swells,  the  hills  of  the 


242  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

V 

Gary  Moraine,  occur  westward  toward  Kulm.  The  train  toils  heavily 
up  the  steep  grade.  The  broad  rolling  hills  rise  twenty-five  to  forty  feet 
above  the  hollows,  and  the  crests  stand  400  feet  above  the  plain  to  the 
east. 

KULM. —  (LaMoure  County),  118.8  miles.  Altitude,  1,966  feet. 
Population,  463. 

Kulm  is  on  the  high  prairie  of  the  Missouri  Plateau,  a  gently  roll- 
ing, broad  expanse  of  prairie.  Northwest  from  Kulm  the  landscape  is 
marked  by  broadly  rolling  swells.  Extensive  hay-meadows  in  the  low, 
broad  sloughs.  Many  small  granite  boulders  lie  upon  the  surface.  Far- 
ther west,  in  southeastern  Logan  County,  the  landscape  is  more  rough, 
hills  steep,  long  hay-meadows  in  old  glacial  drainage  channels.  Railroad 
often  cuts  through  the  hills,  showing  gravel  and  drift  clay.  Boulders 
strewn  upon  surface.  West  of  this  belt  of  hills  the  surface  is  more 
smooth.  Wave  cliffs  and  terraces  on  the  sides  of  sloughs  show  where 
have  been  lakes  during  the  time  of  the  melting  of  the  ice-sheet.  Frequent 
alkali  lakes  among  the  hills  west. 

LEHR. —  (Mclntosh  County),  139.3  miles.     Altitude,  2,017  feet. 

The  Altamont  Moraine  is  crossed,  with  hills  high  and  steep.  Rail- 
road winds  among  the  hills,  with  frequent  cuts.  Hills  150  to  200  feet 
high,  with  steep  boulder-strewn  sides.  Railroad  follows  old  drainage 
channel,  with  steep  grade  westward,  rising  onto  the  immense  ridge  or 
belt  of  the  Altamont  Moraine. 

WISHEK. — 149.8  miles.     Altitude,  2,010  feet. 

Between  Lehr  and  Wishek  is  one  of  the  most  majestic  developments 
of  a  terminal  moraine  crossed  by  any  line  of  railway  in  the  State.  The 
height  of  the  moraine  is  from  2,000  to  2,075  ^eet  above  sea  level  and 
rises  200  feet  above  the  nearly  level  prairie  on  either  side.  The  belt 
where  crossed  by  the  railroad  east  of  Wishek  is  about  eight  miles  in 
width,  and  is  one  of  the  most  striking  morainic  regions  in  the  State. 
The  deep,  well-marked  valleys  having  no  streams  of  importance  in  them 
indicate  the  action  of  glacial  flood  waters  at  the  time  these  and  later 
ranges  of  morainic  hills  were  being  formed  along  the  edge  of  the  Great 
Tee-Sheet.  Many  deep  hollows  containing  lakes,  having  clearly  cut  ter- 
races on  their  shores  showing  the  higher  stage  of  the  water  at  a  former 
time,  broad  hay-meadows,  which  were  once  lake  bottoms,  and  long  chan- 
nels marked  by  high  terrace  flood-plains,  tell  of  the  great  amount  of 
water  which  once  was  here.  The  hills  are  very  high  and  steep,  and 
strewn  with  boulders.  The  landscape  is  one  almost  inaccessible  to  travel 


THE   SOO   LINE.  243 

through  overland,  except  on  horseback.  And  then  the  traveler  is  very 
likely  to  lose  his  way,  the  high  knob  which  was  taken  as  a  guide  treacher- 
ously allowing  another  to  be  mistaken  for  it!  A  broad  valley,  an  old 
drainage  channel  from  the  Altamont  Moraine  to  the  Missouri  River, 
lies  west  of  Wishek,  along  which  the  railroad  runs.  This  valley  is  broad 
and  deep,  having  flat  bottom  and  well-defined  terraces  along  its  sides.  A 
branch  of  the  railroad  south  to  Ashley  follows  this  channel. 

NAPOLEON. —  (Logan  County),  171.0  miles.     Altitude,  1,951  feet. 

From  Wishek  the  railroad  runs  nearly  northwest  to  Napoleon,  follow- 
ing the  bottoms  of  glacial  channels,  broad  and  flat  bottoms  with  small 
streams,  or  none  at  all.  The  sides  of  the  valleys  are  steep,  owing  to  the 
Fox  Hills  Sandstone,  which  forms  the  surface  layer  of  rock,  thinly  over- 
laid with  drift.  Two  large  drainage  channels  meet  at  Berry  Lake  west 
of  Napoleon.  A  terrace  of  gravel  and  sand  fills  the  lower  part  of  these 
valleys  to  a  height  of  about  twenty-five  feet  above  the  water  of  the  lake. 
Traces  of  this  terrace  are  seen  along  the  valley  running  west. 

CAMPBELL. —  (Emmons  County),  180.9  miles.     Altitude,  1,896  feet. 

Terraces  well  shown  along  valley,  which  is  followed  by  the  railroad. 
A  cut  shows  brown  shaly  sandstone  in  thin  strata. 

BRADDOCK. — 187.9  miles.     Altitude,  1,860  feet. 

From  Campbell  west  the  railroad  follows  the  deep,  broad  valley, 
marked  terraces  occurring  along  its  sides.  The  valley  is  more  than  100 
feet  below  the  general  level  west  of  Campbell.  Morainic  hills  occur 

north,  but  these  are  largely  concealed  from  view  by  the  high  valley  walls. 
*********** 

ASHLEY. — (Mclntosh  County),  167.8  miles.    Altitude,  1,998  feet. 

Ashley  is  eighteen  miles  southeast  of  Wishek.  The  railroad  follows 
large  glacial  drainage  channels  through  most  of  the  distance.  Many 
conspicuous  channels  of  this  character  occur  in  this  neighborhood.  No 
part  of  the  State  offers  a  more  interesting  field  for  the  study  of  glacial 
drainage  than  this  region,  in  Mclntosh  and  Logan  Counties.  High  boul- 
dery  terraces  and  chains  of  lakes  along  these  old  lines  of  drainage  give 
the  landscape  a  unique  appearance.  The  Altamont  Moraine,  which  was 
crossed  east  of  Wishek,  extends  nearly  parallel  with  the  line  of  the  rail- 
road as  far  south  as  Ashley,  when  it  extends  eastward  to  about  the  edge 
of  the  great  Missouri  Plateau  in  southwestern  Dickey  County.  The  hills 
of  this  range  rise  from  100  to  150  feet  in  height  between  Wishek  and 
Ashley,  and  in  the  southwestern  township  of  Dickey  County  the  higher 
knobs  are  nearly  200  feet  high,  their  high  crests  standing  conspicuously 


244  THE   STORY   OF  THE   PRAIRIES. 

against  the  sky,  as  seen  from  the  east,  500  to  600  feet  above  the  plain  to 
the  east.  Ashley  stands  upon  a  nearly  level  plain  about  six  miles  square, 
having  a  deep,  fine,  silt-like  soil,  as  though  it  had  been  the  bottom  of  a 
lake  for  a  long  time.  A  larger  plain  of  similar  character,  though  not  as 
nearly  level,  extends  over  a  large  region  west  of  the  high  morainic 
range. 


AN   INDEX. 


SUBJECT  TITLES  IN  HEAVY-FACED  TYPE. 


PAGE 

Ada,  Minn 80,  81 

Advance  and  Retreat  of  the  Ice-front.40,  56 

Age  of  Landscape 139-141,  157 

Age  of  Mammals . 165 

Age  of  Reptiles , 159,  165 

Age  of  Rocks -  140 

Alexandria,  S.  D 117 

Alkalies,  in  Water 188 

"Alkali  Flats,"  The 137,  238 

Alkali,  in  Sediments 173 

Alkali,  in  Water  of  Lakes 137 

Alkali  Lakes 46,  242 

"Alkali  "  Lakes  in  the  Far  West,  The..  137 

Alkaline  Lakes 207 

Alkaline  Marshes 198 

Alkali  Water 127,  128 

Alluvial  Fans 239 

Almont 227 

Along  the  International  Boundary 134 

Alpine  Glaciers..  33 

Alta 219 

Altamont  Moraine 

110,  130,  131,  207,  224,  225,  240,  242,  243 

Amherst,  S.  D 118 

Anamoose 110,137,  237 

Andrew's  Creek 230 

Angular  Outlines  of  Rocks 97 

Another  Class  of  Artesian  Wells 186 

Anselir 234 

Antelope 227 

Antelope  Hills 115,  116 

Antelope  Moraine 116,  131,  223,  232,  236,  241 

Antelope  Valley 222 

Anthracite  Coal 164,  165 

Apple  Creek 225 

Archaean 178 

Ardoch 210 

Area  of  Lake  Agassiz 79,  108 

Area  of  Lake  Agassiz  in  Canada,  Minnesota, 

and  NorthDakota 84 

Area  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Increased 82 

Area  of  Lake  Dakota 117 

Area  of  Lake  Sargent 117 

Area  of  Lake  Souris 113 

Argusville 209 

Arrow  Wood  Lake 125,  131,235 

Artesian,  Term  Defined 181 

Artesian  Waters 186 

Artesian  Well,  Grafton....  ...  178 


245 


PAGE 

Artesian  Well,  Grafton,  Section 177 

Artesian  Wells 181, 184, 185 

Artesian  Wells  at  Devil's  Lake  and  James- 
town, Depth 172 

Artesian  Wells  In  the  Red  River  Valley  184 

Artesian  Wells,  Natural 138 

Artesian  Wells,  Occurrence 183 

Arthur 213 

Arvilla 198,  214 

Ashley  48,  243 

Assiniboine  Delta 112 

Assiniboine  River,  Manitoba 112 

Asylum  for  Insane 221 

Augites 23 

Axis  of  Red  River  Valley 198,  211,  218 

Axis-plain  of  Lake  Agassiz 233 

Badger  Creek,  Manitoba 112, 121 

Bad  Land  Region,  The 145 

Bad  Lands,  The.. 21,  69,  75,  144,  148,  157,  176,  228 

Bad  Lands  to  Travel  Through 144 

Balfour 110, 116,  126,  137,  237,  238 

Balfour  Ridge 116,237 

Barnes  County 131,  203 

Barnes  County,  Ice-sheet  in Ill 

Barnesville,  Minn. 80 

Barrett 92 

Bartlett 200 

Base-leveled  Plain 157 

Base-level  of  Erosion 140 

Bathgate 211 

Beaches  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Uplifted 106 

Beach-lines  of  Devils  Lake 122 

Beach  Ridges 86,  209 

Bear  Butte 204 

Beaulieu 94 

Beaver  Lake  and  Glacial  Channels 49 

Bed-rock.. 26,  75,  216 

Bed-rock,  in  Minnesota 25 

Beginnings  of  a  Landscape 13 

Beginnings  of  the  Lake  (Agassiz),  The.    79 

Bell,  Dr.  Robert,  Cited 106 

Belmont 81 

Benson  County 136 

Berea 219 

Berlin.... 231 

Berry  Lake 243 

Berthold 207 

Berwick 205 

Big  Bend,  Sheyenne  River 80,  92,  175,  234 


240 


AN    INDEX. 


PAGE 

Big  Butte,  see  Mauvais  Butte 120 

Big  Coulee  Creek 136 

Big  Coulee  Group  (of  Lakes),  The 136 

Big  Coulee  Outlet  of  Lake  Souris.112, 116, 119, 237 

Big  Coulee,  Pierce  County... Ill,  113,  126 

Big  Fields  in  North  Dakota 191 

Big  Horn  Mountains,  Wyoming 72 

Big  Muddy  River 227 

Big  Sioux  River 25 

Big  Slough 231 

Big  Slough,  Ransom  County 119 

Big  Stone  Lake,  Minnesota 78,  79 

Bismarck ....28,170,225 

Bismarck  Extension,  Soo  Line  241 

Bismarck,  Washburn  &  Great  Falls  Railway  225 

Bituminous  Coal 164,  165 

Black  Hills,  South  Dakota 72 

Blanchard 79-81,  184,  185,  188,  213 

Blanchard  Beaches 81,  102,  107 

Blanchard  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz 102 

Blue  Hills 120,  121 

Bois  des  Sioux  River .211,  233 

Bordulac 236 

Bottineau 55,113,204 

Bottineau  Branch,  G.  N.  Ry 204 

Bottineau  County 69,  113 

Boulder  Chains. 81 

Boulder-clay,  or  "till" 88,  185 

Boulder  Patches 57 

Boulders,  "Foreign" 60,  61 

Boulders,  Kinds  and  Sizes 60 

Boulders,  Large 20 

Boulders,  Scattered  Over  Bottom  of  Lake 

Souris 114 

Boulders,  Traveled 57 

Boulder-strewn  Prairies 60 

Bowbells 240 

Brackish-water,  Laramie 173 

Braddock.. 243 

"Bread  Basket  of  the  World" 195 

"Breaks,"  The 19,  148 

Broken  Bone  Lake. 203 

Broken  Prairie 147 

Bruflat  Academy 213 

Brush  Lake 131 

Buffalo 80,219 

Buffalo  Boulders 61 

Buffalo  Lake 136 

Buffalo  Lake,  Pierce  County Ill 

Buffalo  Lodge 205 

Buffalo  River,  Minnesota 84,  91 

Buford 71,  72,  208 

Building  Stone 240 

Burch,  S.  D 117 

Burleigh  225 

Burleigh  County 48,  131 

•Burlington 138,  166,  170,238 

Burnside  Beach 107,  210,  211 

"Butte,"  at  Valley  City 219 

Butte,  Defined 145 

Butte,  in  Pembina  County 96 

Buttes...  ....19,75 


PAGE 

Buttes,  Development  of 147,  148 

Butte  St.  Paul ! 204 

Buxton 81,  108,  210 

Caledonia. 80,81 

Caledonia,  Depth  of  Lake  Agassiz 83 

Cambrian 178 

Campbell.. 243 

Campbell  Beach 

94,  101,  102,  105,  198,  212,  213,  215,  218,  231 

Campbell  Beach,  Across  Deltas 100 

Campbell  Beach,  Multiple 105 

Campbell  Stage 102 

Cando 134,201 

Cannon  Ball  River 76 

Capped  Butte 147 

Carboniferous  Era 165 

Carboniferous  Formation 178 

Carpio 239 

Carrington 131,  222,  236 

Cass  County,  Sheyenne  Delta  in 92 

Casselton 19,  87,  213,218 

Cathay  __ 236 

Cause  of  Existing  Lakes,  The 124 

Cause  of  Lake  Dakota 117 

Cause  of  the  Lake,  The 120 

Causes  of  These  Changes  (of  Level) 103 

Cavalier  County 140 

Cayuga _ 117 

Chain  of  Lakes,  The 121,  130-132,  243 

Channel  Connecting  Sheyenne  and  James 

Valleys... Ill 

Channel,  Pre-glacial 142 

Character  of  the  Lands,  The. 189 

Chautauqua,  North  Dakota 200 

Cherts 23 

Cheyenne  River,  South  Dakota 76 

Churches  Ferry 201 

Clay,  Formed 33 

Clay,  in  Connection  with  Coal 161 

Clays,  for  Manufacturing 192 

Clay,  Stratified,  on  Bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz.    89 

Cliff,  Wave-cut 92,  94,209,  213,  215,  242 

Coal....  ...  158 


Coal  Beds 161-1 

Coal  Beds,  in  Series 169 

Coal  Beds  of  North  Dakota,  The 159 

Coal  Beds,  Time  of 180 

Coal  Beds,  Varying  in  Thickness 168 

Coal  Beds,  Vertical  Range  of 169 

Coal  in  the  Bad  Lands 170 

Coal,  Map  Showing  Distribution 160 

"Coal  Measures" 166, 180 

"Coal  Measures"  of  Pennsylvania 165 

Coal  Mines  at  Wilton ; 225 

Coal  Mines,  Burning 152 

Coal  Mines,  Des  Lacs  Valley 240 

Coal  Mines  of  Mouse  Valley 238 

Coal,  on  Missouri  River 193 

Coal,  Supply  of 192 

Colfax 92,  212 

Colorado  Canyons 180 

Colorado  Formation 172 


AN    INDEX. 


247 


PAGE 

Common  Wells 188 

Conditions  Necessary  for  Artesian 

Wells  181 

Conditions,  Causing  Lake  Agassiz,  The.  7V 

Conway 99,112,201.215 

Cooperstown 28,  34,  132 

Coteau  des  Prairies 70,  76,  77,  79,  117, 118,  173 

Coteau  du  Missouri 19,  71,  72,  76 

77,  110,  131,  166,  176,  207,  221,  223.  232,  836,  240,  241 

Coteau  du  Missouri,  Meaning  of  Name 70 

Coulee,  or  Young  Valley 15 

Coulees 140,  143 

Coulees  of  Mouse  Valley 238 

Courtney 235 

Crary 200 

Cretaceous  Age 229 

Cretaceous  Era.75, 159, 161, 165, 166, 172,174,179,180 

Cretaceous  Formations 136, 137,  186,  188,  191 

Cretaceous  Inland  Sea,  The 75 

Cretaceous  Rocks 99, 150,  216,  221,  225,  230 

Cretaceous  Series 171.  176 

Cretaceous  Series,  Thickness  in  North 

Dakota 172 

Cretaceous  Series,  Upper  and  Lower 172 

Cretaceous  Shale  in  Delta  Sand 96 

Cretaceous  Shales 94,  95, 121, 128,  133,  134,  220 

Crooked  Lake,  McHenry.  County 110 

Crookston.  Minn 1 188 

Crust  of  Earth,  Changes  in  Form  of 103 

Crust  of  Earth,  Uplift  of 105 

Crystal  Springs 224 

Cuba 235 

Cummings 81,  209,  210 

Custer  Creek.. 152,  154 

Custer,  General 153,  230 

Custer  Trail  Ranche 153,  154 

Cycle  of  Erosion 13 

Dakota  Glacier 45,  46,  96,  112 

Dakota  Glacier  and  Lake  Dakota 116 

Dakota  Glacier  in  South  Dakota 50 

Dakota  Glacier.  Moraine  Formed  by 82 

Dakota  Glacier,  Moraine  of 110 

Dakota  Sandstone 172-175, 178, 180, 185,  186 

Dakota  Sandstone,  Artesian  Wells  in.181, 1&3, 184 
Dam,  Restraining  Waters  of  Lakes  Winni- 
peg, etc 83 

Davenport 212 

Davis  Mine 170 

Dawson 224 

Days  of  the  "Great  American  Desert" 

No  More,  The 195 

Deep  Artesian  Wells  West  of  the  Red 

River  Valley 183 

De  Groat  Lake 122 

Delta 207 

Delta,  Photograph  of 93 

Deltas  and  Beaches  of  Lake  Agassiz, 

The 90 

Deltas,  Formed  in  Lake  Agassiz 84 

Deltas  of  Lake  Agassiz 108 

Denbigh 205 

Depth  of  Drift 75 


Depth  of  Drift  about  Devils  Lake 121 

Depth  of  Great  Ice-sheet 68 

Depth  of  Ice  in  Ice-sheet 114 

Depth  of  Lake  Agassiz 80,  83,  212 

Depth  of  Lake  Dakota 117 

Depth  of  Lake  Sargent 118 

Depth  of  the  Ice  of  the  Great  Ice-sheet ...  .77,  78 

Depth  of  Waters  of  Lake  Agassiz 83, 109 

Descent  of  Red  River  Valley 83 

Des  Lacs 206 

Des  Lacs  Lakes 125,  239 

Des  Lacs  River .....110, 116, 138,  206,  238,  239 

Des  Lacs  River,  Coal  on 166 

Des  Lacs  Valley,  Lakes  of 239 

Devils  Heart  Hill 55,56,  121,  176,  200,  202 

Devils  Lake 

19,  20,  28,  50^  73,  112,  119,  las,  134,  176,  186,  201,  223 

Devils  Lake  Branch,  N.  P.  Ry 221. 

Devils  Lake,  Caused 125 

Devils  Lake  City 183-185,  200,  201 

Devils  Lake  (City),  Artesian  Well  at 127 

Devils  Lake  City,  Moraines  East  of 82 

Devils  Lake  (City)  Surface  Wells 133 

Devils  Lake  Group  (of  Lakes) 132 

Devils  Lake,  History  of 120-123 

Devils  Lake,  Ice  on  Hills  South 91 

Devils  Lake,  Ice-sheet  South  of 110 

Devils  Lake  Region,  Drainage  of 141 

Devils  Lake,  Size 125 

Devonian 178 

Dickey  County 28,69,116,  192,  243 

Dickinson 19,147,148,156,228 

Different  Forms  of  Buttes. 146 

Different  Kinds  of  Coal,  The 163 

Diversity  of  Soils  in  North  Dakota 189 

"  Divide,"  between  Devils  Lake  and  Mouse 

River 202 

Dog  Den  Butte 19,  71, 110, 137, 176, 188,  238 

Donnybrook 339 

Dovre  Moraine 

79,  101,  113,  117-119,  132,  220,  222,  231,  233 

Dovre  Moraine,  Height  of 241 

Drainage  System  Developing 213 

Drainage  System,  Development  of 140 

Drift 1-25,  184 

Drift,  Beyond  Missouri  River 207 

Drift  Boulders , 27 

Drift  Boulders,  West  of  Missouri  River 226 

Drift  Clay 124 

Drift  Clay,  of  Red  River  Valley 88 

Drift,  Depth  of 27 

Drift  Hills 231 

Drift  Hills,  Sandy  Character  of 176 

Drift,  Line  Distinguishing  from  Bed-rock..  219 

Drift,  Mantle 74,75,  137,187,188,219 

Drift,  Mantle  of 27 

Drift  Materials 78 

Drift  on  High  Mountains 31 

Drift  Period,  Denned  27 

Driscoll 224 

Dry  Lake  122,133 

"Dry"  Lakes 125,200 


248 


AN   INDEX. 


PAGE 

Duck  Mountain,  Manitoba. 108 

Dunes 

92,  93,  115,  136,  176,  199,  205,  212,  214,  231,  233,  234 

Dunes,  of  Sheyenne  Delta 92 

Dune  Tracts,  Lake  Souris 114 

Durbin 212 

Dwight 212 

Eagles  Nest 227 

Early  Landscape,  The 159 

Easby 216 

Eaton  Brothers 154 

Eckelson 220 

Eckelson  Lake 132,220 

Eddy  County 132 

Edgeley . 71,  282 

Edinburg 82,  96,  99,  216 

Eldridge 223 

Elevation  Above  Sea-level  of  State 71 

Elevation  of  Basin  of  Lake  Agassiz 106, 107 

Elk  River 84,91,96,100,199 

Elk  River  Valley,  a  Sound  or  Strait 99 

Elk  Valley 82,  96,  199,  214,  216 

Elk  Valley  Delta,  Formation  of 98 

Elk  Valley  Delta,  Profile 91 

Elk  Valley  Delta,  Section 95 

Elk  Valley  Delta,  The 

51,  82,  90,  96,  98,  101, 198, 199,  214 

Elk  Valley,  Level  Bottom 100 

Ellendjfle 19,71, 183, 184,232 

Elliott 231 

Elm  River 209,213 

Elysian  Moraine 132,  221,  222,  235 

Emerado 198 

Emerado  Beach 107,198,210 

Emmons  County 48 

Emrick 236 

Enderlin _ 234 

Englevale 119,231 

Epeirogenic  Movements  of  the  Earth's  Crust  106 

Epoch,  Denned 168 

Erie 81 

Erosion,  Illustrated 12 

Erosion,  Pre-glacial 76 

Excursion  Among  the  Boulders,' An 21 

Excursion  to  Some  Glaciers,  An 37 

Extinct  Lakes,  Defined 124 

Fairmount 233 

Fargo 19,  71,  73,  79,  209,  211,  218,  230 

Fargo  and  Moorhead,  Depth  of  Lake  Agas- 
siz at 80 

Fargo,  Artesian  Boring 175 

Fargo,  Depth  of  Lake  Agassiz 83 

Fargo,  Section  Across  Valley 88 

Fargo,  Southwestern  Branch  Nor.  Pac. 

Ry 119,230 

Fargo  to  Grand  Forks  and  Neche,  G.  N. 

By. , 209 

Farms  in  the  East 190 

Feldspar . 22 

Fergus  Falls,  Minn 48,80 

Fergus  Falls  Moraine 

80,  81,  98,  108,  202,  203,  219,  222,  235 


PAGE 

Fergus  Falls  Moraine  and  Lake  Agassiz 101 

Fern  Plants  in  Coal  Formations 161 

Fessenden 131 ,  236 

Fifth  or  Elysian  Moraine \.119,  132 

Fingal 234 

Fire-clays 162 

First  or  Altamont  Moraine 48, 110, 113 

First  Pembina  Mountain,'. _93,  94 

Fish  Lake 135,141 

Flaxton _ 240 

Fluctuations  of  Level  (of  Devils  Lake).  122 

Forest  or  Big  Salt  River 73,  74,  141,  210 

"Forest  Primeval" _ 229 

Forests,  Growing  of 192 

Forests,  on  Missouri  River 208 

Forests,  on  Shores  of  Devils  Lake 123 

Forests,  on  Turtle  Mountains 202 

Forests,  Poplar 216 

Forests,  Submerged 122, 132 

Forman 118,241 

Formations  of  the  State. _ 171 

Fort  Benton  Formation.. 166, 173-175, 179, 180,  183 

Fort  Benton  Shale 172 

Fort  Pierre  Formation 

166, 173, 174, 176, 179,  180,"183 

Fort  Pierre  Group  of  Rocks 95 

Fort  Pierre  Shale 121,  172, 175 

Fort  Ransom  Military  Reservation 118 

Foster  County 19, 131,  236 

Fourth  or  Kiester  Moraine Ill,  119 

Fox  Hills  Formation 166, 173-175, 179, 180,  226 

Fox  Hills  Sandstone....  136, 172,  176,  205,  225,  243 

Foxholm... 2:38 

Fresh  Artesian  Wells 186 

Fresh-water  or  Brackish-water  Formations  173 

Fryburg 148,  154,228 

Galesburg' 81 

Gardar.... 96 

Gardner 209 

Gary  Moraine .110,  131,  224,242 

Geology  a  Practical  Science 189 

Geology  from  a  Car  Window 196 

Girard  Lake Ill,  136 

Glacial  Channel,  Des  Lacs  Valley 240 

Glacial  Channels 

126,  130-132,  204,  220,  221,  233-225,  231,  237,  242,  243 

Glacial  Elk  River 51,  90,  98,214 

Glacial  Lake  Agassiz 74,77 

Glacial  Lake  Dakota 116 

Glacial  Lakes ...47,  124,  125, 130, 134 

Glacial  Lake  Sargent... 117 

Glacial  Lakes,  Extinct 29 

Glacial  Lake  Souris ....110,201 

Glacial  Lake,  Temporary 48 

Glacial  Period ...28,  175 

Glacial  Period,  Defined 27 

Glacial  Period,  Duration  of 180 

Glacial  Period,  Time  Since 178 

Glacial  Rivers 47 

Glacial  Sheyenne  River  231 

Glacial  Valleys 206 

Glacier,  Conditions  for  Forming  of 33 


AN   INDEX. 


249 


PAGE 

Gladstone 228 

Gladstone  Beach 107,  108,  210 

Glen  Ullin 227 

Golden  Valley .82,96,216 

Golden  Valley,  Level  Bottom  of 100 

Goose  Rapids. _ 81 

Goose  River ..20,73,209 

Gorge  Below  Falls  of  St.  Anthony 180 

Grafton 19,  108,138,210 

Grafton,  Artesian  Boring 175 

Grafton,  Artesian  Well  at 178,  184 

Grafton,  Section  Artesian  Well 177 

Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado 16 

Grand  Forks 19,71,  138,  198 

Grand  Forks  County 138 

Grand  Fo  rks,  Section  Across  Valley 88 

Grand  Harbor 201 

Grandin .187,  209 

Grand  River,  South  Dakota 76 

Granite,  Archaean 178,  184 

Granite  Boulders.. 199,  216,  224,  236 

Granite,  in  Boulders 22,23 

Granville 205 

Grass  Lake 120 

Gravel  Pits 87,  198,199 

"Great  American  Desert" 194,  195 

Great  Divide  or  Height  of  Land 77 

Great  Ice-sheet,  The 

28,  33,  34,  51,  68,  77,  113,  128,  173,  178 

Great  Ice  sheet,  and  the  Missouri  River 72 

Great  Ice-sheet,  Benefits  of 190,191 

Great  Ice-sheet,  Dam  to  Northern  Drainage    84 

Great  Ice-cheet,  in  North  Dakota 45 

Great  Ice-sheet,  Melting  of 79 

Great  Ice-sheet,  Region  not  Covered  by 69 

Great  Ice-sheet,  Relation  to  Deltas. 100 

Great  Ice-sheet,  Western  Limit 71 

Great  Northern  Lines,  The 198 

Great  Northern  Railway 28,  76,  92, 110, 205 

Great  Northern  Railway,  Altitude.. 202 

Great  Northern  Railway,  Crosses  Dunes  ...  115 

Great  Northern  Railway,  Elevation 208 

Great  Northern  Railway,  Highest  Point  of.  120 
Great  Northern  Railway,  Moraines  Crossed 


by. 


"Great  Salt  Lake  "  of  North  Dakota 120 

Greene '. 218 

Griggs  County 28,  132 

Ground  Moraine 125 

Ground  Moraine,  Defined 36 

Group  (of  Lakes)  North  of  Devils  Lake, 

The 133 

Group  of  Typical  Morainic  Lakes,  A...  136 

Groves,  About  Devils  Lake 200 

Gulf  of  Mexico 75 

Hamilton 211 

Hankinson 80,  92, 118,  233,  241 

Hannah 142 

Hard-head  Boulders 25,  178 

Hard-heads 23,  26 

"Hard-pan" 185 

Hard  Problem  for  a  Boy  to  Uudergtaiid    64 


PAGE 

Hard  Water 127, 128,  185 

Harvey 137,  166,  170,  237 

Harwood 209 

Hatton 70,214 

Havana 70 

Hawk's  Nest 71,131,222,236 

Hazen  Creek 198 

"Head"  of  Elk  Valley  Delta 96 

Heart  of  the  Bad  Lands 230 

Heart  River 76,147,226-229 

Hebron 227 

Heerman,  Captain,  Cited 133 

Height  of  Land 77,79 

Herman  Beach 

80,  92,  102,  105, 106,  108,  198,  199,  213,  218,  234 

Herman  Beach,  Across  Deltas 108 

Herman  Beach,  Beginning  of 101 

Herman  Beach,  Multiple 104 

Herman  Beach,  West  Side  of  Deltas 100 

Herman  Shore-line 214,  233,241 

Herman  Shore-line,  Across  Pembina  Delta.  94 
Herman  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz...80, 100, 108, 109 
Herman  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Denned  ...  106 

Higher  Buttes 156 

Highest  Shore-line  of  Lake  Agassiz 218,  234 

Highest  Shores  of  Lake  Agassiz 211 

Highland    Forming  West    Shore  of  Lake 

Agassiz 99 

Hill  Planed  by  Ice 51 

Hills  Along  Missouri  River 55 

Hillsand  Swells.. 36 

Hills  and  Valleys,  Defined 11 

Hillsboro 79,80,209 

Hillsboro  Beach 107,198,209,210 

Hills,  Drift,  Height  of 242 

Hills,  "Dumped" 139 

Hills,  East  and  West,  Compared 18 

Hills,  Examples 19 

Hills,  Formed 47 

Hills,  Formed  from  Prairies 140 

Hills,  Height  of 224 

Hills,  Height  of,  at  Mandan 226 

Hills,  Knobby 125 

Hills,  Morainic 34, 132,  136, 199 

Hills,  of  Bad  Lands 145 

Hills,  of  Erosion. 139 

Hills,  Pre-glacial 138 

Hills,  Rugged  Drift 242 

Hills,  South  Devils  Lake 50 

Hills,  Tiny 213 

Hills,  Types  of 21 

Hills,  West  of  Missouri  River 140 

Hills,  Worn  by  Ice 55 

History  of  Devils  Lake 120 

Hobart 132,  220 

Hope 19,28 

Horace  Greeley,  Story  of 194 

Horizontal  Layers  in  Hill;;  West  of  Missouri 

River  .' 226 

Horneblende 22 

How  old  is  North  Dakota? 178 

How  the  Coal  Beds  were  Formed 162 


250 


AN   INDEX. 


PAGE 

How  the  Wood  \vas  Changed  into  Coal  163 

Hudson's  Bay,  Filled  with  Ice 84 

Hunter 213 

Hurricane  Lake 120 

Ibsen  Lake 120 

Ice  Age 179 

Ice  Age,  Duration  of... 180 

Ice  Age,  or  Glacial  Period,  Work  Done 

Since 140 

Ice,  Behavior  of,  Under  Pressure 30-33 

Ice-cascade 42 

Ice-dam,  Cause  of  Lake  Souris 110 

Ice-flow,  Due  to  its  Weight 32 

Ice  Invasion 30 

^ce  Movement,  Direction  of 29 

Ice-sheet,  Thickness  of 31 

Ice,  Stratified ..42,  52 

Ice- water,  From  Melting  Glacier 39,  42,  47 

Ice,  Weightof 31 

Ice,  Work  of _ 28 

Increase  in  Size  and  Depth  (of  Lake 

Agas>iz) 80 

Indian  Reservation 203 

Indians 203 

Inkster 112,134,  201,  215 

Inkster,  Profile  at 98 

Inland  Sea 75, 159,  171, 174, 186 

Inter-Morainic  Tract.. _ 222 

Island  in  Lake  Souris 205 

Island  Lake 120 

Islands  in  Lake  Agassiz 99,  214 

Islands,  on  East  Shore  of  Lake  Winnipeg..  83 

Itasca  Lake,  Minnesota 82 

Itasca Moraine. 99, 108, 133, 134, 135, 199,200,  201, 216 

Itasca  Stage,  Dakota  G  lacier 82 

James  River.71,  72, 77,  111,  112, 113, 118, 175,  222,  235 

James  River  Basin 166 

James  River,  Channel  Filled 125 

James  River,  Dammed  by  Ice 117 

James  River.  Early  Course 131 

James  River,Enlarged  to  Form  Lake  Dakota  116 

James  River,  on  Bed  of  Lake  Dakota 117 

James  River,  Upper  Valley  of 237 

James  River  Valley 72,  111,  116,  118,  124,  231 

Jamestown 183-185,221 

Jamestown,  Artesian  Well  at 127 

James  Valley 221 

James  Valley,  Depth  of 176 

Jerusalem 12!,  123 

Jim  Lake 125,  131 

Joint  Terminal  Moraine 52,  66 

Jotenheimen  Mountains,  Norway 37 

Judson 226 

Jura-Trias  Formation 178 

Kasota,  Minn 25 

Keith 200 

Kelso 209 

Kenmare 160,  170,  239 

Kensal 235 

"Kettle  Moraine" 203 

Kidder  and  Logan  County  Group,  The, 

of  Lakes....  ...  131 


PAGE 

Kidder  County 48,  131 

Kiester  Moraine Ill,  131,  132,  222,  235,  236 

Killdeer  Mountains 156 

Kindred 92,  212 

Kinds  of  Lakes,  The 124 

Knife  River 148,227 

Knobs 220,  231 

Knobs,  Height  of 225,  236 

Knox 202 

Kulm _ 242 

Lac  des  Roches 112,  121, 134-136 

Lagoon,  Formed  Behind  Sand-bar 87 

Lagoons 213 

Lake  Agassiz.. 

72, 116, 118, 119, 124, 134, 138,  173, 180, 198, 203, 209, 218 

Lake  Agassiz,  Area  of ., ...79,  108 

Lake  Agassiz,  Compared  in  Time  with  Lake 

Souris 113 

Lake  Agassiz,  Floor  of 185 

Lake  Agassiz,  Highest  Shores 211 

Lake    Agassiz,    Highland    Forming   West 

Shore 99 

Lake  Agassiz,  History  of 107 

Lake  Agassiz,  How  Caused 100 

Lake  Agassiz,  Increase  in  Size  of 80 

Lake  Agassiz,  in  Relation  to  Deltas 100 

Lake  Agassiz,  Level  Bottom  of. 230 

Lake  Agassiz,  Outlet  of 78 

Lake  Agassiz,  View  of 216 

Lake  Agassiz,  West  Shore  of.. 73, 173 

Lake  Dakota... ._ 72, 116, 118, 119,241 

Lake  Dakota,  Extent  of 117 

Lake  Sargent 118,  119,124,  191,231,241 

Lake  Sargent,  Area  of 117 

Lake  Sargent,  Depth  of  Water  of 241 

"Lake  Sargent,"  Named 117 

Lakes  as  a  Landscape  Feature. 139 

Lakes,  Morainic 203 

Lakes  of  North  Dakota,  The 124 

Lake  Souris 

72,  111-113,  116,  124,  135,  137,  203,  206,  238 

Lake  Souris,  Area  of 113 

Lake  Souris,  Beginning  of 115 

Lake  Souris,  Bottom 176 

Lake  Souris,  Cause  of.... ^113 

Lake  Souris,  Drainage *119 

Lake  Souris,  Early  Drainage 131 

Lake  Souris,  Outlet. 115 

Lake  Souris,  Sands  of.. 136 

Lake  Souris,  Shore-line  of 113 

Lake  Souris,  When  Formed 113 

Lake  Superior,  Outlet  to 102 

Lakota 134,200,201 

Lakota,  Moraines  Near 82 

Lallie  or  F  ort  Totten  Station 222,  223 

Lamoure 231 

Landscape  Geology 21 

Langdon ..19,  216 

Laramie  Epoch 168 

Laramie  Formation 

137,  151,  165,  166,  176,  180,  226,  227 
Laramie  Formation,  Thickness 169 


AN    IXDF.X. 


251 


PAGE 

Laramie  Sandstone 172,  173 

Larimore 20,  28,  34,  51,  70,  76,  82,  96,  199,  214 

Lateral  Moraine 41 

Lateral  Moraine,  Defined.. 35 

Leaf  Hills  Moraine 

50,  81,  82,  98,  108,  199,  202,  203,  222 

Leaf  Hills  Moraine  of  Dakota  Glacier 99 

Leaf  Hills  Moraine  of  Minnesota  Glacier  ...    99 

Leaf  Hills  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz 99 

Leal 235 

Leeds 202,223 

Lehigh 170,228 

Lehr 242 

Lemert 236 

Leonard 92,230 

Level  Lands 191 

Level  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Cause  of 108 

Level  of  Surface  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Deflection  105 

Level  Plain  at  Ashley 244 

Level  Prairie 209,218,233 

Level-prairie  Portion  of  State 69 

Lidgerwood 118,  241 

Lightning's  Xest .92,  233 

Lignite  Beds  in  Dakota  Sandstone 172 

Lignite  Coal 164-166 

Lignite  Coal,  in  Bad  Lands 151 

Limestone 23 

Limestone  Formation 178,  184 

Limestone,  in  Hard  Water 128 

Limestone,  in  Water 185 

Limestone,  Pulverized 56,  84 

Lisbon 28,80,92,118,119,  175,231 

Little  Missouri  River 

19,  72,  76,  147-149,  152-154,  156,  228,  230 

Little  Muddy  Creek 208 

Little  Pembina  River 95,  134,  141 

Logan  County 48,  49, 131,  242 

Long  Lake,  McHenry  County 110 

Long  Lake,  Rolette  County 120 

Long  Lake  Valley 224 

Lost  Creek 100 

Lower  Silurian 184 

Lower  Silurian  Formation 175 

Lowland  Plain,  in  Central  Portion  of  State.    76 

Magnolia ....218,  219 

Mandan 147,226,228,229 

Manfred 237 

Manitoba 57 

Manitoba  Escarpment,  The 

69,  72.  73,  77,  173-176,  199,  211,  214,  216,  219,  235 

Manitoba  Lake 56,  79,  108,  109 

Manitoba  Lake.Depth  of  Lake  Agassiz  Over    83 

Manitoba  Lake,  Uncovered  from  the  Ice 83 

Manitoba,  Multiple  Beaches  in 104 

Mankato,  Minn 25 

Mankato,  Minn.,  Bend  of  River  at 78 

Mantador 233 

Manvel 210 

ManySmall  Lakes 74 

Mapes 199 

Maple  Lake,  Minn 108 

Maple  Lake,  Minn.,  Beaches  Near 104 


PAGE 

Maple  Ridge 212,218 

Maple  River 73,  213 

Mapleton _ 213 

Map  Studies:    Lakes ...130 

Marine  Formations ...  166 

Marquis  de  Mores 153 

Marsh 137 

Marshall  County,  South  Dakota 117 

Marshes 126,  138 

Marshes,  Alkaline 198 

Mauvais  Butte 121,  176,  202,  223 

Mauvaise  Coulee 112,  120,  133,  135,  141,  201 

Mauvais  or  Big  Butte 120 

Mayville. 20,  81,  96,  185,  213,  214 

Mayville,  Artesian  Boring... 175 

Mayville,  Contour  Line 85 

Mayville,  Excavation  in  Clay 89 

McCanna..... "..51,96,99,  199,214 

McCauleyville  Beach 

94,  100-103,  105, 107,  198,  212-215,  231 

McCauleyville  Beach,  Multiple 105 

McCauleyville  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz.  101, 103, 107 

McHenry  County 63, 110,  132, 136 

Mclntosh  County 48,  131,  243 

McKenzie 225 

McLean  County 19,  48 

McLean  County  Group,  The,  of  Lakes..  130 

Meaning  of  Lakes  on  a  Landscape 139 

Medial  Moraine. 47 

Medial  Moraine,  Denned 35 

Medicine  Lodge  Hill 205 

Medina 224 

Medora 152-155,  230 

Merricourt 241 

Merrifield 210 

Mesabi  Moraine 83,108 

Mesa,  Defined 145 

Mesas 146,  147,228 

Mesozoic,  or  Middle  Life,  Period 159 

Mica.... •->-'.  13 

Michigan  City 199,  200 

Milnor 92,119 

Milnor  Beach 80 

Milton 216 

Mineral  Resources 192 

Mineral    Substances    in  the  Water  of 

Artesian  Wells 185 

Minnesota  Glacier 45,  46,  96,  113 

Minnesota   Glacier,    Forming    Leaf    Hills 

Moraine 99 

Minnesota  Glacier,  Moraine  Formed  by 82 

Minnesota  Glacier,  Moraine  of 81 

Minnewaukan 2-,-x!.  •,',':! 

Minot..l9,  20, 57,  58,  71, 113, 115, 120, 203, 205,  206, 238 

Minto 108,210 

Missouri  Plateau,  The 

110,  113,  120,  126,  137, 166, 176, 178,  207,  iis.  -J4J.  •„'« 
Missouri  River,  Lake  SourisDrained  into.  113,115 

Missouri  River,  Limit  of  Ice-sheet 139 

Missouri  River,  Occurrence  of  Coal 165 

>Iiv>,,uri  Kiv«T,  The.. 21,  24.  28.  69.71.72.  71. 
70,  110,  124,  126,  130,  131,  147,  148,  207,  208,  225,  226 


252 


AN   INDEX. 


PAGE 

"Missouri  Slope" 71,  131,  223 

Mistaken  Notions  About  the  Cause  of 

the  Bad  Lands 144 

Monango 232 

Montana  Formation -  172 

Mooreton 92 

Moraine  Leveled,  in  Red  River  Valley 81 

Moraines,  Denned 34 

Moraines  Formed  upon  Bottom  of  Lake 

Souris 115 

Moraines  in  North  Dakota  Named 48 

Moraines  Leveled  by  Waves  of  Lake  Souris.  114 

MorainicBelt 241 

Morainic  Hills 74,  81,  202-204,  216,  222,  223,  236 

Morainic  Hills,  Last  Westward 225 

Morainic  Knobs _ 219,  222 

Morainic  Lakes 45,  74, 124,  135,  136 

Morainic  Lakes,  Formed 36 

Morainic  "Range" 200 

Morainic  Ridges 34,35,39,41,223 

Morean  River,  South  Dakota 76 

More  Excursions 59 

Mores  Castle 153 

Morris,  Manitoba 108 

"Mountains"  The 47,82,  99,215,  216 

Mouse  or  Souris  River 71,  110 

Mouse  River.. 72,  77,  111,  114, 116,  138,  175,  206,  238 

Mouse  River  "Bottoms" 238 

Mouse  River,  Coal  Beds 166 

Mouse  River  Valley 69,  124,  191 

Mouse  Valley 120,  156,206 

Mouse  Valley,  Depth  of , 238 

Mud,  on  Sea  Bottom 75 

Multiple  Beaches ....104,  108 

Name  "Lake  Sargent" . 117 

Napoleon 243 

Natural  Brick 152 

Neche. 108 

Nelson  County 203 

Nelson  County,  Ice-sheet  in .111 

Nelson  River  Outlet . 107 

Nelson  River  Outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz 109 

Nelson  River  Outlet  of  Lake  Winnipeg 83 

New  North  Dakota 128 

NewRockford 222 

New  Salem 226 

Niagara 199 

Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y 179 

Niagara  Gorge 180 

Nicholson. 117,119,241 

Ninth  or  Leaf  Hills  Moraine 45,199 

Niobrara  Formation 166, 173-175, 179, 180,  183 

Niobrara  Shale 172 

Niverville  Beach .107,  108 

Niverville  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz 109 

Norcross  Beach. ...94,105,106, 108,213-215,218,233 

Norcross  Beach,  Across  Deltas 100,  108 

Norcross  Beach,  Multiple 104 

Norcross  Shore-line 199 

Norcross  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz. 101, 102, 106,  107 
North  Dakota,  the  Old  and  the  New  ...  69 
Northern  Pacific  Lines,  The 218 


Northern  Pacific  Railway 92,  132,  153,  154 

Northern  Pacific  Railway,  Highest  Point  of.  230 

Northwood 70,  214 

Norway,  Illustrations  from 37 

Oakes 19,  28,  34,69,  117, 183,  184,  241 

Oberon 222 

Odessa  Narrows 200 

Ojata 198 

Ojata  Beach 107,  198,  210 

Old  Drift 207 

Older  Bocks  Underlying  the  Eastern 

Portion  of  the  State,  The 178 

Old  North  Dakota 74,  75,  120,  128,  159 

Old  (Pre-glacial)  Landscape  of  North 

Dakota 74 

Old  Red  River  of  the  North 175 

Old  Red  River  Valley 178 

Old  River  Valley 120, 121 

Old  Sims  Mine,  Section  at 161 

Olga 94 

Omemee 204 

Qriska 219 

Orr 100,214,215 

Osnabrock 134,  216 

Ossawa  Beach.. _ 107 

Ossawa  Stage  of  Lake  Agassiz 211 

Oswald 233 

Other  Extinct  Glacial  Lakes 110 

Otter  Tail  River,  Minn 211 

Outlet  at  Lake  Traverse 106,  107 

Outlet  Lake  Agassiz,  South,  Map  Showing 

Beaches 103 

Outlet  Lake  Agassiz  to  Lake  Superior 103 

Outlet,  of  Lake  Agassiz 80 

Outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Northeast. 84, 102, 107, 108 
Outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz,  South. 101, 102, 107, 108, 211 
Outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz,  Southward,  Beaches 

Formed 105 

Outlet  of  Lake  Souris  ...110, 126, 134,  136,  237  238 
Outlet  of  Lake  Souris  by  Girard  Lake  and 

Big  Coulee Ill 

Outside  the  Bad  Lands  _ 147 

"Over-wash"  Materials 207 

Over-wash  Plains.. 5P 

Ox-bow  of  Mouse  River 72,  110, 113 

Ox-bows  in  River  Courses 73 

Palermo 110,  207 

"Pans"  or  Glacial  Basins 125,  133,  195 

Parkhurst 221 

Park  River 73,  99,  134, 141,216 

Park  River  (City) 48,  112,  215 

Peat 164 

Peat-bogs __ 166 

Pelican  Lake,  Manitoba.. 121,131 

Pembina 71,108 

Pembina  Delta,  The 90,  93,  96,  101,  112 

Pembina  Delta,  When  Formed 100 

Pembina  Delta,  Stage  of  the  Lake 100 

Pembina  Mountain 70,76,77,93, 

94,  96,  112,  134,  141,  173,  175,  176,  211,  214,  216,  217 
Pembina  Mountain  Highland. .51,  69,  79,  199,  219 
Pembina  Mountain,  Moraines  Crossing 82 


AX    INDEX. 


253 


PAGE 

Pembina  Mountain  Plateau 140 

Pembina  Mountain,  Underlying  Rock-for- 
mations  - 94 

Pembina  River.73, 84, 90, 93-95, 112, 134, 141, 142, 211 

Pembina  River  Outlet  of  Lake  Souris 113 

Pendroy 116,  237 

Penitentiary,  State 225 

Penn 201 

Perry 118,  241 

Petersburg - 76, 199 

Petrified  "Butterfly  ' 65 

Petrified  Forest 229 

Petrified  Forests,  The... 157 

Petrified  Logs 158 

Petrified  Wood 158,  161 

Petroleum 163 

Picturesque  Group  (of  Lakes)  in  Griggs 

County,  A 132 

Pierce  County 69,  136 

Pilot  Mound 219 

Pinnacled  Butte 147 

Pipestem  River 221 

Pisek 215 

Pitch,  Movement  of 30 

Pleasant  Lake 203,  204 

Pleasant  Valley 216 

Pony  Gulch 110,  131 

Portal  _ 233,  240 

Portland 51,96,  213,214 

Pots  and  Kettles 125,136 

Prairies,  Compared 19,  20 

Prefatory  Note 195 

Pre-glacial  Erosion 75 

Pre-glacial  Hill 231,  241 

Pre-glacial  Hills 219,  223 

Pre-glacial  Red  River  Valley 219 

Pre-glacial  Valley 133,  176 

Pre-glacial  Valley  of  Basin  of  Red  River...  173 

Pre-glacial  Valleys 220 

Pyramid  Butte  (photograph).. 14g 

Pyramid  Lake,  Nevada 123 

Pyramid  Park 229 

Quarries 22,  24-26 

Quarries,  an  Excursion  to 24 

Quartz 21 

Quartz,  in  Granite 22,  23 

Quartzite 25 

Quartzite  Boulders 21-23 

Oiu-stion  of  Rainfall,  The 194 

Rainfall 194 

Ransom 92,  117,  241 

Ransom  County 69,117,  119,  192 

Ransom  County,  Sheyenne  Delta  in 92 

Real  Cause  of  the  Bad  Lands 145 

Red  Lake,  Minn 82 

Red  Lake  River,  Minn 91 

Red  River,  Minn 91,211 

Red  River  of  the  North..  74.  7t>.  77.  llx-1-,'0.  209,211 
Red  River  of  the  North,  Axis   of    Lake 

Agassiz  Bottom 103 

Red    River  of  the  North,  Crossed  by 
Moraines...  ....81,82 


PAGE 

Red  River  of  the  North,  Early 108 

Red  River  of  the  North,  Elevations  of 71 

Red  River  of  the  North,  Fall  of 141 

Red  River  of  the  North,  Flood  of 122 

Red  River  of  the  North,  Pre-glacial 176 

Red  River  of  the  North,  Length  of 211 

Red  River  Valley,  Bottom  of  Lake  Agassiz.  83 

Red  River  Valley,  Buried  by  Ice 113 

Red  River  Valley,  Depth  of  Drift 187 

Red  River  Valley,  Depth  of  Drift  in 78 

Red  River  Valley,  Fertility 55,  56,  84 

Red  River  Valley,  Leveled  Drift  Materials.  81 
Red  River  Valley,  Low  Lands  of  Lagoons. .  87 

Red  River  Valley,  Occupied  by  Glacier 82 

Red  River  Valley,  Outcropping  Formations 

West 175 

Red  River  Valley,  Section  at  Wahpetou 87 

Red  River  Valley,  The 

19,  20, 69, 73, 77, 86, 124, 180, 184, 186, 191, 192, 199, 234 

Red  River  Valley,  Western  Limit  of 218 

Red  River  Valley,  Youth  of 140 

Retreat  of  Ice,  Due  to  W*armer  Climate... 82,  83 
Retreat  of  Ice-sheet  Marked  by  Moraines..  100 

Retreat  of  the  Ice 44 

Reynolds 81,  210 

Richland  County,  Sheyenne  Delta  in 92 

Ridges  of  Drift  Forming  Islands 119 

Ridges,  of  Shore  Sand  and  Gravel 86 

"Ridge"  The 47,  82,  99, 199,  214-216 

"Ridge"  The  Profile  at  Inkster 98 


Riga 


305 


River  of  Lakes,  The 137 

Rock-flour 48,  51 

Rock-flour  or  Silt 64 

Rock-powder 220 

Rock-powder  in  Soil 191 

Rocky  Mountain  Region,  Under  Sea 180 

Rocky  Mountains 71 

Rocky  Mountains,  in  Relation  to  Artesian 

Wells 182 

Rocky  Mountains,  Source  Artesian  Water..  184 

Rogers 235 

Rolette  County 69 

Rolette,  Minn 81 

Rolla 201 

Rolling  Prairie 46,216 

Rolling-prairie  of  Lake  Sour  is  Bottom 114 

Rolling-prairie  Portion  of  State 69 

Rugby... 113,  115,203,205 

Rush  Lake 134,  142,  143 

Rutland 70 

Salt  and  Alkaline  Waters  in  Lakes 127 

sail  Beds  on  Dry  Lake  Bottoms 128 

Salt  Lakes  from  Artesian  Springs 138 

Salt  Marshes 138 

Salts 127-129,200 

Salts  in  Lake  Waters,  The 127 

Salts,  in  Sediments 178 

Salts,  in  Water.... 186 

Salts,  in  Well  Water 185, 188 

Salt  Springs 138 

Salt  Water...  ...  138 


254 


PAGE 

Sanborn 132,220 

Sand-bars,  Built  by  Waves 86 

Sand,  Broken  Rock 26 

Sand  Dunes,  McHenry  County ".  115 

Sand  Hill  River,  Minnesota .84,  ill 

Sand  of  Lake  Sour  is  Bottom,  Origin  of 114 

Sandoun 234 

Sand-pit 21 

Sand-pits • 87 

Sand  Ridges 21 

Sandstone-capped  Hills 227 

"Sandstone"  Formations 17'2 

Sandstone,  Occurrence  of 25 

Sandstone  South  of  Turtle  Mountains 114 

Sargent  County 69,70,119,124,  191 

Sargent  County,  Drainage  of 118 

Sargent  County,  Glacial  Lake  in 117 

Sargent  County,  Sheyenne  Delta  in 92 

Saskatchewan  Lake 112, 137 

Schack  of  President  Roosevelt'. 151 

Schackof  Ranchman ' 149 

Schurmeier 210 

Scoria 144,  152,229 

Sea  Bottom  on  Which  the  Rocks  Were 

Deposited,  The 171 

Sea-level,  Relation  of  to  Dakota  Sandstone.  183 

Second  or  Gary  Moraine 110 

Second  Pembina  Mountain 94,  95 

Sentinel  Butte 71,  228,  230 

Seventh  or  Dovre  Moraine 113 

"Shale"  Formations. 172 

Sheldon 80,  231 

Sheldon,  Edge  of  Sheyenne  Delta 92 

Sherbrooke 21 

Sheyenne 222 

Sheyenne  Delta,  Area 92 

Sheyenne  Delta,  Beginning  of 80 

Sheyenne  Delta,  Section 92 

Sheyenne  Delta,  Stage  of  the  Lake 100 

Sheyenne  Delta,  Structure 92 

Sheyenne  Delta,  The 

90,  91,  96,  101,  112,  175,  212,  230,  233,  234 
Sheyenne  River 19,  47,  71,  73,  77,  79,  84,  90-92, 

112,  113, 121, 122, 136, 137, 175,  201,  209,  212,  231,  234 
Sheyenne  River,  Beginning  of  Lake  Agassiz  107 
Sheyenne  River,  Early  Glacial  Channel  of..  118 

Sheyenne  River,  Glacial  Drainage 119 

Sheyenne  River,  Headwaters Ill 

Sheyenne  River,  Upper  Valley  of 237 

Sheyenne  Valley ...47,219-221 

Sheyenne  Valley,  Depth  of .176,  235 

Shore  Boulder  Chain _ 207 

Shore  Boulder  Chains 59 

Shore  Boulders , 224 

Shores  of  Lakes,  Irregular 126 

Sidney 200 

Silt,at  Mouth  Sheyenne  River 91 

Silt,  Deposited  in  Lake  Agassiz _ 84 

Silt-like  Soil 244 

Silt,  of  Elk  Valley 100 

Silt,  on  Lake  Agassiz  Bottom '.)() 

Silt,  or  Rock-flour 04 


PAGE 

Silurian  Formation 178 

Sims .,..170,227 

Sioux  Falls 25 

Sioux  Quar tzite 25, 117 

Sixth,  or  Waconia  Moraine. ...119,  132 

Smooth  Outlines  of  Rocks 97 

Snowflake  Creek .142,143 

Snow-ice,  or  Neve SO,  33,35 

Soft  Water 127, 128,  185 

Soil,  Composed  of 2J 

Soils  and  Resources  of  North  Dakota...  189 

Some  Places  of  Interest 153 

Soo  Line,  The 233 

Sound,  of  Elk  and  Golden  Valleys 100 

Sources  of  the  Salts  and  Alkalies,  The.  128 

Souris 204 

Souris  or  Mouse  River 110 

Souris  River,  Manitoba 121 

Spiritwood 221 

Spiritwood  Chain  of  Lakes 221 

132 

132 

218 

212 

208 

...  238 


Spiritwood  Lakes 

Spiritwood  Station  

"Spit" 

"Spit,"  or  Bar 

Spring  Brook 

Spring  Creek _ 

Spring  Creek  Outlet  of  Lake  Souris 115,116 

Stages  and  Beaches 100 

Stages  of  Lake  Agassiz 100,  102 

Stages  of  Retreat  of  Ice 100 

Stanley  ...  ...  207 


St.  Anthony,  Falls  of ...  179 

Stanton 148 

State  Line '.. 230 

Steele. 224 

Steele  County. 28,203 

Steele  County,  Ice-sheet  in  _ 111 

Sterling 225 

St.  John.. 202 

St.  John  Branch,  G.  N.  Ry 201 

Stockman's  Paradise,  The 192 

"Stone  Trees" 157 

Stonewall  Beach 107 

Stony  Creek _ 208 

Stormy  Lakes 117, 118 

Strata,  Defined  25 

Stratified  Gravel  and  Sand  in  Sand-pits    61 

Straubville _ 117 

Strawberry  Lake ...110,131 

Streams  from  the  Melting  Ice.. 78 

Striae ...51,53 

Striated  Boulder ...51,53,236 

Structure  of  the  Buttes,  The 150 

St.  Thomas .- ---  211 

Stump  Lake .^...112,120-123,132 

Stump  Lake,  Caused 125 

Stumps,  Fossil  in  Coal  Formations 161 

Stutsman  Courfty 131 

Sub-glacial  Stream 42 

Sub-soil,  of  Red  River  Valley _ 88 

Substages  of  Tintah  Stage 107 

Sully's  Creek 154,229 


AN    INDEX. 


Sully's  Hill 

Sully  Springs. 

Surrey 

Swan"  Lake.... 


PAGE 

.55,  121,  176,  200,  202 


Sweet   ISriar  Creek 22<; 

Sweetwater  Lake 122.120.  l-'K 

Swell-and-Sag  Topography 224 

Table  of  Elevations  of  Coal  Mines 170 

Table  of  Geological  Formations  in  North 

Dakota 172 

Tagus.. 207 

Tagus  (Wallace) 110 

Tappen. 224 

Tapping  of  a  Lake 141 

Taylor 228 

Taylor  Lake 92 

Terminal  Moraine,  Defined 35,57 

Terminal   Moraines 

34,  38,  43,  44,  48,  125,  200,  207,  216 

Terminal  Moraines,  Described 45 

Terrace,  Glacial ..208,231 

Terrace  Plateau 225 

Terraces,  Glacial 222,  231,  237,  239,  242,  243 

Tertiary  Era. _ .166,  174 

Tertiary,  or  Age  of  Mammals 165 

Tewaukon   Lake • 118,  119 

Tewaukon  or  Skunk  Lake 117 

Third  or  Antelope  Moraine 116 

Three  Types  of  Landscape 69 

Till,  or  Boulder-clay 88 

Till,  Underlying  Delta... 95 

Timber  on  Dunes 115 

Time  Length  of  Geologic 180 

Time  of  Duration  of  Lake  Souris 114 

Time  Since  the  Ice  Age,  Method  of  Deter- 
mining   179 

Tintah  Beach,  Across  Deltas  _.i 100 

Tintah  Beaches. 94,101,105, 107, 198, 212, 213, 215, 218 

Tintah  Beach.  Multiple _  105 

Tintah  Stage  of  Lake  Agassi?. ,.102,  107 

Tioga. 208 

Todd.  ].  E.,  Cited  _ 225 

Tongue  River 73,  94,  134,  141,  211 

Tower  City. 184,219 

Towner .....20,  113,  205,  206 

Towner  County 112, 134 

Traverse  Lake 77-79,108,211 

Traverse  Lake,  Fall  to  Lake  Winnipeg 118 

Traverse  Lake,  in  Southern  Outlet 101 

Traverse  Lake,  Outlet  of  Lake  Agassiz 83 

Tree  Trunks  in  Coal llil 

Tributary  Glaciers ."*. 35 

Turtle  Mountain  Group  (of  Lakes) 1.35 

Turtle  Mountain  Plateau.  .77. 13(1.  140. 1 41 . 156, 204 

Turtle  Mountains ..53.  55.  71, 

72.  70.  111-113.  120.  132.  1.",1,  13»i,  17C.   K*.  201,  202 

Turtle  Mountains,  Coal  Beds  in.. 160 

Turtle  Mountains.  Height  of 204 

Turtle  Mountains.  Moraines  Upon v.' 

Turtle  Mountains,  Sand  from  About. 114 

Turtle  River....  ..78,  :  I.  I'.is.  1  II.  I'.i'.i 


PAGE 
Twin  Lakes,  Lake  Irwin  and  Lac  au  Morts.  1*1 

Union 210 

Upham,  Warren,  Cited 79 

Urbana 220 

Valley,  Beginning  of 14 

Valley  City 19,  28,  34,  118,  132,  219,  220,  235 

Valley  Filled  with  Drift 142 

Valleys  Filled  by  Drift 141 

"Valley  of  River 205 

Veins  Tapped  in  Boring  Artesian  Wells 188 

Velva 72,110,113,114,116,238 

Veneered  Hills 53,  55.  56, 120,  219,  231 

Venlo 234 

Vermilion,  South  Dakota 183 

Verona 231 

View  From  the  Top,  A 155 

Voltaire 238 

Wacoma  Moraine 132,  220,  222,  231.  235 

Wahpeton.... 71.77.  79,211,  212 

Wahpeton  and  Breckenridge,  Depth  of  Lake 

Agassizat 80 

Wahpeton,  Artesian  Boring 175 

Wahpeton,  Depth  of  Lake  Agassiz 83 

Wahpeton,  Section  Across  Valley 87 

Wahpeton  to  Larimore  and  Hannah  ...  211 

Walcott 92,212 

Walcott,  C.  D.,  Cited 180 

Walhalla 70,  94 

Walker  Lake 132 

Wallace,  see  Tagus 110 

Walsh  County 34,138,  140 

Ward  County  _ 48,  69,  110,  137 

Warren,  Gen.  G.  K 79 

Warren,  River 78-80,102,103,  112 

Washington  Lakes 122,  132 

Waste-land,  Amount  of.. 192 

Waste-land,  Little 211 

Waters  from  Melting  Ice-sheet 124, 132 

Watershed 202 

Watershed  between  Devils  Lake  and  Mouse 

River 120 

Water  Supply,  The 181 

Wave-cut  Terrace 240 

Wave- worn  Beaches 220,223 

Wells  County 236 

Wells  County,  Old  Channel  in Ill 

Wells,  Surface,  at  Devils  Lake 133 

Western  Coal  Fields,  The 165, 

Wheat  Belt  of  Northwest 218 

Wheatland _ 20,70,218,219 

Wheatland,  Profile 87 

Wheelock. 208 

White  Earth 207 

White  Earth  Creek 208 

White  Mountains 31 

White  Stone  Hill 

Wild  Rice  Station,  Elevation  of lis 

Wild  Rice  River 73,11s.  ll'.i.  233 

Wild  Rice  River,  Minnesota '.n 

Willard  Lake 92 

Williams  County ..IS.  71.  137 

Williston ...   i;o.  20S 


256 


AN  INDEX. 


PAGE 

Willow  City 113,204 

Wilton 170,226 

Wimbledon 235 

Windsor 223 

Winnemucca  Lake,  Nevada 123 

Winnipeg  (City) 82,  122 

Winnipeg  Lake 79,  107-109 

Winnipeg  Lake,   Depth   of    Lake   Agassiz 

Over 83 

Winnipeg  Lake,  Uncovered  from  the  Ice.._    83 
Winnipegosis  Lake 79,  109 


PAGE 

Wintering  Creek 116 

Wishek 242,  243 

Wood,  Elements  Composing 163 

Work  Done  by  Moving  Ice,  The 51 

Wyndmere 80,  118,  211,  233 

Yellowstone  River.. .71,  72,  208,  230 

York 202 

Young  Valley 216,  221 

Young  Valleys 207 

Youth,  of  Landscape 139 


APPENDIX. 


EXPLANATION  :  In  the  Spring  of  1900,  at  the  time  when  the  swelling  tide  of  immigration 
into  the  then  newer  northwest  of  North  Dakota  was  attracting  wide  attention,  three  articles 
appeared  in  the  Mayville  Tribune,  from  the  author's  pen,  written  at  the  request  of  the  editor 
to  give  a  brief  statement  of  the  geological  situation  of  the  Mouse  River  Valley  with  reference 
to  the  bearing  of  this  upon  the  agricultural  resources  of  that  region.  In  one  of  these  articles 
a  study  of  the  rainfall,  from  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau  statistics,  was  presented.  All 
the  geological  matter  which  was  given  in  these  articles  was  later  embodied  in  the  text  of  the 
present  volume,  but  not  the  statistics  of  rainfall. 

Many  requests  for  copies  of  this  tabulated  record  of  rainfall  have  been  received,  and,  as 
the  original  article  is  not  now  available,  it  has  been  deemed  advisable  to  insert  this  table  and 
the  accompanying  discussion  in  the  present  edition  of  The  Story  of  the  Prairies  as  an 
appendix. 

The  articles  were  originally  written  with  local  reference  to  the  northwestern  portion  of  the 
State,  and  the  local  character  of  the  description  has  not  been  changed.  Those  who  may  be 
interested  in  the  question  of  rainfall  in  other  regions  adjacent,  either  in  North  Dakota,  Mon- 
tana, or  the  Canadian  Northwest,  will  be  able  to  make  comparisons  from  the  figures  given,  by 
•reference  to  the  official  records  of  rainfall  in  the  particular  localities  in  which  they  may  be 
interested. 

The  only  changes  made  in  the  original  tables  are  in  bringing  the  data  down  to  include  the 
year  1902. 


THE    RAINFALL    IN    NORTH    DAKOTA. 


The  question  of  rainfall  is  an  important  one  in  any  agricultural  district.  To  all  appear- 
ances North  Dakota  has  unlimited  resources  in  fertility  of  soil  if  only  climatic  conditions  are 
such  as  to  make  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil  available  in  crop  production.  Records  of  the 
amount  of  rainfall  have  not  been  made  at  all  points  which  would  be  desirable  in  determining 
an  estimate  of  the  comparative  rainfall  in  this  portion  of  our  State  and  that  of  the  eastern 
portion.  However,  we  have  compiled  such  data  as  are  available  for  the  months  of  April, 
May,  and  June,  which  months  are  deemed  to  be  the  most  important  ones,  and  from  these 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  amount  of  rainfall  in  this  northwestern  portion  of  the  State 
as  compared  with  the  Red  River  Valley. 

In  the  accompanying  table  the  figures  indicate  the  amount  of  rainfall  in  inches  and 
hundredths  of  an  inch,  and  are  compiled  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  director  of  the 
Weather  Service  at  Bismarck.  The  stations,  which  are  named  in  the  table,  have  been  selected 
with  the  idea  of  showing  the  comparative  rainfall  in  the  Mouse  River  Valley;  the  great  Plateau 
region  to  the  west;  the  medium  upland  east  of  the  basin  of  Lake  Souris  (Mouse  River  Valley), 
and  the  Red  River  Valley.  By  comparing  the  figures  in  the  two  tables  the  rainfall  for  any 
locality  given  in  Table  A  for  the  months  of  April,  May,  and  June  may  be  compared  with  the 
average  for  that  month  for 'the  entire  State  (Table  B).  And  by  reference  to  the  columns  of 
figures  in  Table  A  marked  "Total  for  three  months"  and  the  horizontal  line  of  figures  in 
Table  B  showing  the  average  rainfall  for  a  particular  locality,  comparison  may  be  made  with 
that  for  the  whole  State.  The  average  annual  precipitation  (rain  and  snow)  for  each  year  for 
the  whole  State  is  also  given  in  Table  B.  The  column  in  Table  A,  "  Total  for  the  three 
months  for  eight  years,"  is  given  for  the  ready  comparison  of  one  locality  with  another  of  the 
total  rainfall  for  the  months  of  April,  May,  and  June  ovei;  a  period  of  eight  years.  The 
figures  in  the  column  marked  "  Average  for  three  months  for  each  year"  in  Table  A,  which 
represent  particular  localities,  may  be  compared  with  the  figures  in  Table  B  showing  "Average 
rainfall  for  three  months"  for  the  whole  State.  i  • 

If  any  person  has  labored  under  the  impression  that  these  lands  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  State  are  subject* to  drought  and  hence  not  adapted  to  profitable  .farming,  a  study  of  the 
climatic  records  will  tend  to  dispel  that  idea. 


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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 

31 1933 


OUT  1  6  1961 

NOV8   196 


Form  L-9-15m-7,'32 


HEHN  BRANCl 
LIBRARY. 

~~0.£L£S,  O/^ 


QE 
149 
W66 


